One Month

Well, we made it.
One whole month.

Baby E is growing pretty well, with a few small hurdles along the way.

It seems as though she is determined to both follow and out perform her older sister when it comes to baby issues.
E has reflux.
We are talking MAJOR reflux.
Bella had it, but not like this.

This time, it actually started in the hospital before we even came home. Her pediatrician was concerned about a blockage or mal-rotated bowel, but eventually ruled those out and decided on reflux of the severe form.

She is now on 3 medications and special formula to help her keep it down.
I'm starting to noticed less gagging and more straight forward vomit. But she is keeping more and more down every day.
We've been in for more weight checks that I ever imagined.
But...guess what...we've topped 8 lbs!
Wahoo!

Other than that little road block...things have been going well.
E is actually a very content baby. She sleeps like a champ (and I'll thank BabyWise for that), and she is happy to just look around and listen to her older siblings tell her CONSTANT stories.

The older kids are so great with her.
Her older sister wants to hold her and feed her bottles...not to mention pick out an outfit for her everyday.
Every. Single. Day.
Her older brother honestly hasn't held her more than 2 or 3 times. Her "smallness" makes him very nervous. But, he is constantly in her face. He tells her stories. He sings her songs. He tries to play toys with her.
I think he is totally determined to be the favorite sibling.

Alma and I?
Other than the typical baby fatigue, we are doing well.
I've adjusted to the continuous nights of minimal sleep, but still fall asleep by 10 pm no matter where I am.
Alma has had to wake me up multiple times from the couch to get me to go upstairs and to bed.
We try and keep busy...but not too busy.
I try to get out once a day...and by out, this mostly means a long walk or short run...anything outside.
It makes me feel energized.

I'll be honest.
Most of our meals lately are out of the crock pot or consist or breakfast for dinner.
Laundry piles up for days (ok...a couple weeks).
Beds don't get made.
Toys lay strewn on the floors.
But...we are all having so much fun just hanging out.
We entertain the baby.
We entertain each other.
We even painted toenails...Bella insisting that her baby sister needed purple toenails so she could fit in with the rest of the girls in the house.
                                 
And it's made for a wonderful...crazy....but wonderful...first month with our little baby E.

Baby

Well.
It's been over 2 months since I posted anything to this blog.
Puh. Thet. Ic.

In the last 2 months, we've had some significant changes to our household.
Namely, we created and successfully brought a human being into the world.
No biggie.

For the sake of my memory...and inquiring minds..if there are any.
Here is the "rundown" of how we finally came face to face with our little baby E.

This pregnancy had been pretty fantastic.
Sure, there was the odd food aversions at the beginning (hello..no diet coke and no desserts? It's like my placenta abducted my brain and re-wired it into a lame foodie and no aspirations. True).
But, that eventually went away and life continued on in full.

I was able to stay pretty active the entire pregnancy.
I was running up until 37 weeks and 4 days.
Now...when I say running...keeping in mind I was carrying a large and odd shaped bowling ball on my bladder.
A bowling ball that moved, kicked and squirmed.
That makes running quite the adventure.
This means, "running" was really something like: run 2 songs, walk 1-2 songs, run 2 songs, walk 2 songs....etc.
And the running part...well...
I'm sure I provided much entertainment to all the senior citizens who walk the indoor track at the gym I go to. It was more of a very fast waddle/skip/run thing (at least, that's how I saw it in my head).
I tried the elliptical machine...it just felt like cheating.
Swimming was out..since I couldn't fit in my swimsuit and a maternity swimsuit has too much drag (picture large tent over swimsuit bottoms...yup).
And the bike? Well...let me remind you. Bowling ball...on a stationary bike seat.
NO BUENO.

So, we "ran".
Nora actually ran12-15 miles a week in utero with me.
Not to mention she completed a bike race with me in September...before she even had fully developed legs.
Good job baby.

Anyway...I kept in shape.
I tried to eat well.
And guess what...it made this my most enjoyed pregnancy of all 3.
True.
Sure there were the discomforts of pregnancy. But I think actually taking care of myself made them more tolerable.
That...and I never felt bad about the indulging I partook in (a whole box a girl scout cookies..twice? Sure, why not).

Everything went smoothing up until about 37 weeks.
I went in for an appt and found my BP had risen significantly...I had gained 6.5 lbs in water weight in 6 days...and there was protein in my urine.
Sweeeeet.
It looked like I was going to have a possible repeat on my BP/PIH issues I had with Bella.
I was also 3 cm that day...and came home and contracted like crazy that night.
After an hour of painful contractions every 3-4 minutes for over 90 minutes, I thought it "might" be happening that night.
I figured I better shave my legs...since my poor co-workers would be the ones holding them if I had a baby then.
I got in the bath...and BOOM.
Contractions gone.
L.A.M.E!

So, life went on.
I was checked at work later that week, and was called 4 cm.
I went to my 38 week appt...and miracle of miracles...I was "healing" myself and reverting dilation.
My BP had gone down a bit. Protein down to a trace. Lost 5 lbs....and
Oh yeah...
"your back to 3 cm".

Gee.
Great.
But...with my history of BP issues and the trends of the past week..I was ordered to stop working and "take it easy" until the next week..when I was scheduled for an induction.
Sounded good to me.

We spent the last week before Nora came just "hanging out" as a family.
I went a little nuts with the nesting thing, which was interesting.
We went of some great evening walks and had some fun family time playing games and watching movies.

Finally...induction day.

It's always odd to show up at the place you work...as a patient.
I still remember changing in to my gown and thinking "this is so weird...so so so weird".

After IV starts, labs and general admission business...I was still 3 cm, and earned myself some Pitocin.
I'd never had pitocin before.
With Bella...cytotec put me into full blown labor.
With Oliver...my water broke on it's own and that did the trick pretty fast.
So, this was a little scary for me.

So, up the pit went. High dose...for you L&D nurses out there.
It wasn't until it hit 20 that I started feeling them painfully.
At 25, they hurt, but not "epidural" hurt.
So, we pressed on.

Around 12:15 they broke my water and I got that blessed fentanyl.
After seeing double for 10 minutes, it stated wearing off.
Bring on the epidural.
Up until that point, I was thinking "maybe I can do this without an epidural".
Pssshht...right.
Anesthesia came in and in the epidural went.
Only....

It only set up on one side.
The contractions got significantly stronger and closer and I kept thinking "this is going to go fast...I've seen this...I know how this is going to go down..and it's going to suck a little...ok...a lot".
My BP dropped, and I started puking as the anesthesiologist came back in to pull back my epidural catheter and redose it. Baby really "loved" the drop in my BP too..as most babies do.
That's always lovely to do in front of everybody you work with.
Puke...heave...puke...heave.
Nice.
At least I got all of it (I think), in the emesis basin.
Poor Alma was looking on trying to tell me it was ok....really...his voice and the voice of my nurse kept me sane.

Somewhere in all of this, I was being checked,  I'd gone from 3 to 4 to 6 to 8 in about 45 minutes.
And that freaking epidural was not doing what I needed it to do.
My left...dead numb.
My right...warm toes and calf...but fully aware of everything else.

Every contraction I felt like  the right side of my abdomen was going to explode.
I kept thinking "how to people do this...ON PURPOSE!".
I kept moaning through every contraction...and only kept the rapid succession of swear words and curse phrases inside my head thanks to the encouraging words and counterpressure from Alma and my nurses.
I only hope I didn't sound like a dying animal to all my other co-workers at the desk that day.

I just kept thinking "keep it together Matti...you've seen women do this day in and day out for 9 years without an epidural...you're no different".

So, when I finally was complete...pushing was a welcome relief.
I think (although..I'm not sure because my brain had gone to some other place in pain at that point), that I pushed through 2 or 3 contractions.

And then.
She was here.

Finally.
This little being.
The little girl I had been yearning to meet for 39 weeks now.
The girl I'd dreamed about and worried over all this time.
She came out screaming and directly to my chest.
It was instant love.
All the weeks of waiting. All the "fun" of the last hour...was worth it.
Our little girl, living, breathing, screaming and in our arms at last.

The rest of the afternoon was bliss.
Sure..we had a little Post Partum Hemorrhage (lets see....about 1100mL? For those L&D nurses with inquiring minds...I earned myself cytotec, extra pitocin, methergine, hemebate (Yikes!), and a manual with the ultrasound). And yes...the Lomotil worked...praise the heavens!!

Even with all that...I knew I was in the best hands and it never really seemed scary.
I had incredible nurses (who I will save from public mention out of respect...but they know who they are...and I cannot more grateful for their incredible and dedicated care).

We finally made it over to the post partum unit later that night, packed with goodies and flowers and the cutest little baby fuzzy red/blond/brown hair.

The next 36 hours were a blur of eating, sleeping, feeding and cuddling a newborn.
Lots of time of just me and baby E.
And then...home.

So, there you have it.
The round up of pregnancy and the welcoming of our little girl into the world.

We are thrilled with our new little lady.
The kids are thrilled maybe more than the parents are.
She is so sweet, and we are just relishing in her smallness.

Thank you to all the wonderful nurses, doctors and support staff that took such spectacular care of us.
I truly cannot think of a better place to work and group of people to have take care of me. I feel lucky to have been in your care.
Thank you to all our friends and family for your calls, texts, visits, treats, dinners, visits....we feel so loved and supported.
Thank you to my children for being so great and so wonderful to me...Alma..and their new baby sister. They are amazing.
Thank you to my darling husband. I feel like this has brought us closer together on a whole other level. Your support and love and laughter keep me going every day.

And finally...Thank you to little baby girl,for letting us be your parents and family. You've changed our lives for the better and we are so blessed and truly excited to have you in our family.

Stay tuned...I'm hoping to keep our blog updated better from now on...even if it means typing on handed with a baby in the other arm...and spit up on my shoulder.

The Cold Will Keep Us

I'm going to brag on for my brother.
He took this picture of Bella a couple weeks ago.
It was dark, and bitter cold..and he wrapped Bella up in his cardigan and snapped this shot.

I. Love. It.

Apparently sombody else loved it too, because it was featured on an art website.
Now Bella and Kyle are famous in their own rights.
Well...at least in my book.

The Cold Will Keep Us

by Kyle White (Vyce*)

Nikon F100
Tmax3200
No photoshop , no nothin

Featured on: The Only Magic Left is Art
Here is the link to their flickr page (easist to find the shot)
http://www.flickr.com/groups/theonlymagicleftisart/

Thanks Kyle.
My kids always look amazing in your shots.
Proud of you.

Triple P

Triple P.
It's been on my mind for while now.
What, might you ask...is a Triple P?

Well, honestly, it's anything you want it to be.
For me, right now, they are Pregnancy, Primary, Pianos.

I know, random, right?

1.Pregnancy.

(My bump...at 19 weeks.

Pic by my talented brother Kyle)

As I wonder through the 30th week of pregnancy...I suddenly realize how utterly unprepared I am for the 5th member of our family to arrive. Just this past weekend we moved Bella and Oliver into the same room so that they can sleep without a crying baby beside them.
The room took a ton of work, which I tried to do mostly myself and save Alma the time and effort. We painted together at 9pm one night.

The last time we painted a room after 8pm, there was a dead lady in front of our house the next morning.
True story.
Here.

So, as we laughed and commiserates over this, we painted and drank diet dr pepper until our bellies hurt...then went to bed and woke up sore the next morning.

After the room was done...I realized what a weight it had been on my shoulders.
To have them in the same room and know they were set with their new living quarters...I could relax knowing I had a spot for the baby, and a comfy place for them.
Huge....I mean HUGE relief.

Now its on to the details as we wind down the next 9-10 weeks.
We've got clothes and all those fun things.
It's the realization that I'll be buying diapers, wipes, formula, bottles....for a long time....and I haven't started.
It's exciting...and scary.

I feel generally really good.
I'm still able to run 2-3 miles a couple days a week. My goal was to run 3 miles at 30 weeks.
Now that I'm there, I'm want to stop completely...but I'm stubborn and probably won't.
Try to imagine running with a bowling ball on you bladder.
 It's "super fun".
So I run..and then walk for a minute or two until the feeling subsides...then run...then walk....repeat repeat repeat.

I'm suddenly hungry for almost anything...all the time.
I do, however, had a sudden aversion to eggs.
This is not good...considering we have 3 chickens that keep us well stocked in fresh eggs....that I used to love...and now cannot imagine eating.
Desserts are still iffy.
Candy, however....is a big love of mine...bad bad love.
Sigh.

And names.
Yes, we have one.
The better part is what the kids THINK we should name this baby.
My favorite come from Oliver...who first suggested we name her "Show and Tell".

Yes, I'm sure that would have gone over well in her teenage years.

Now he is sure we should name her Sofia the First...as in the Disney Channel movie.
Sorry buddy...not happening.

Bella, on the other hand, could care less about the name.
Her main goal right now is just to feel the baby move...since it seems she freezes every time Bella tries to feel.

Alma and I?
We are generally excited and still trying to wrap our heads around this new little person that will soon be arriving at our household.

2. PRIMARY

</ So, I don't talk about Primary a lot here on my blog.
It's a pretty personal subject...plus it involves A LOT of people besides myself.

I've now been the Primary President for 13 months.
We have over 120 kids on our rolls...about 75-80% are active...which is wonderful.

I was doing the math last week in Stake Conference...and I have filled 29 callings in 13 months...and that number will most likely go up soon, as we are not fully "staffed".
Yes...29.

Keep in mind, that it's not just primary teachers...it's nursery, scouts, and activity days too.
And while it seems like a lot when you look at it in numbers...it's totally fine.

Why?
Because the pay off.
I've always like primary.
But now...
now as the president and seeing these kids every week.
Hearing their stories. Listening to them answer profound questions.
Having them bare simple and pure testimonies....
I cannot imagine a better place to be.
I leave each week a better person and find myself looking forward to going to Primary every week.
And while there are challenges....there will ALWAYS be challenges. No matter what calling, or role...no matter what aspect of like you look at.

It is the challenge that determines you. How you handle it. What you learn from it.
It's odd to have this intense feeling of protection over so many kids. To want nothing but the absolute best for them every week. The best lesson. The best environment. To make sure they know that they are loved and are in a place of peace and happiness and that they are so very important.
It. Is. Awesome.
I'm telling you people.
Primary is where it's at.

3. PIANO

 I've been playing the piano, essentially, since I was 5 or 6.

I took lessons and then classes until I was 19 or 20. I have fond memories of playing in the basement of the music building at SUU in my own little room with my own little piano that I was paying money for playing time on.

Now Bella is showing interest and I think she's ready.
I firmly believe in having my kids learn at least ONE instrument...the piano. They can move on to other instruments from there.

We've had a piano for about 8 years now. We were fortunate enough to acquire it from my cousin and her husband.
It was old...as in 1940's or earlier old.
The keys were chipped and real ivory. The frame was worn and bore the battle scars of moves, storage and children over the years.
Yet...it played.
It didn't hold a tune long...and after years of trying to keep it in tune, I gave in and enjoyed it for what it was.
Hard to play,out of tune, but a piano nonetheless.

Then, one day, my sweet grandmother called to tell me she was giving me her piano.
I about peed my pants with excitement.
Literally.
Seriously literally.

The piano needed to be played...and we were the house to do it.
Seeing as I didn't enjoy playing our old out of tune piano...it had lost use over the years. I found my skills diminishing and the sounds of music becoming non-existent in our home.

Now, we would have music again.
My fingers ached to play it my grandmothers piano.
And last weekend, it arrived safe and sound to my living room.

Needless to say, it has been played A LOT over the past week.
The kids "play" numerous songs and make up the words as they go.
I've found piano music I had forgotten existed in the depths of my music storage...and they are starting to fill our house with tunes again.

Our old piano went lovingly to a new home with a little girl just learning to play that "just needed something" to play on...since she had nothing.
I'll admit..I was kind of sad to see it go. And at the same time, excited for the little girl and also excited for the new musical adventures in our own home.

And that's where we are.
For now.
Pregnancy. Primary. Pianos.

That isn't all that is happening...,but certainly a good glimpse....into our "P" filled world.
*snort*

O turns 4

December.

A crazy month a fun and busy busy schedules.

Back in 2008, Oliver decided to join our family a couple weeks early, and make December all that much more exciting and merrier.

This year Oliver was able to have his first "real" party.

I honestly tried holding this off for a while....but he has seen his older sister have parties and was INSISTINT that this year...he was having a party.

With his birthday being so close to Christmas, I usually let the guilt take over and give in to whatever birthday wishes he wants...just to be sure it's a special day for him and not overcrowded with holiday agendas.

His chosen theme?

Monsters.

Odd...seeing as he has been battling the "monster fear" for the past year.

The sign on his door even says "NO MONSTERS ALLOWED"...right next to the sign that said "No Girls Allowed...except Mom".

I guess he has come to love the monsters he feared....because he was sure that's the party he wanted.

We decorated in full monster fashion.

We had a monster lunch (pizza, grapes, juice).

We played Pin The Eye on the Monster.

We made monster masks.

We had Monster Cupcakes and Monster Swirl Ice Cream.

Each kid was sent home with their own little monster to adopt.

I was an exhausted mamma monster by the end of the day....thanks to my little adorable monster boy.

Oliver was truly elated to have a whole day ALL about him.

He told everybody it was his birthday...everywhere we went.

We had my family over that evening for a Monster Dinner.

( We MAY have also had a little Mayan Dinner theme going too...since it is the only time in Oliver's life that the world will "supposedly end"...on his birthday...of all days).

(Do you love the tin foil hats? Thank you Mel Gibson and "Signs")

Oliver was spoiled with gifts and treats.

He got his much coveted light sabers...and his much wished for guitar.

He even serenaded us to a little "Jingle Bells".

By the end of the day...my little birthday boy was exhausted.

And when I tucked him in that night...I had a hard time believing that he is 4.

He is 4!

This little guy, who melts my heart.

Who is SO curious about the world...and whom you can see thinking all the time behind those big eyes.

This little guy...who I still like to rock to sleep at nap time...even though he barely fits on my lap and asks me to put him in bed...and I tell him to just let me rock him to ONE song...which I secretly roll into 2, then 3, then 4...until he is asleep.

Oliver..you are my favorite little boy. Thank you so much for coming to our family during this magical time of year.

Happy Birthday...my monster loving boy.

Catching Up

It seems as thought I can only catch up every 3-4 weeks lately.

Before I know it, another month has gone by.

My last post felt like forever ago already...and here we are ending 2012 tomorrow.

November and December have been a blur.

An interesting, trying, rewarding, enlightening blur.

Thanksgiving this year was spent in SLC.

This is the year that we should have gone with Alma's family, but due to scheduling conflicts with travel, we were in Salt Lake. We enjoyed a turkey filled, laughter induced day. I even made my first turkey.

For real.

I found it on OurBestBites. Brined and injected with butter and all sorts of goodness.

I was pretty proud.

Christmas season approached us fast.

Oliver, oddly enough, asked to start setting up Christmas stuff the day after Halloween.

He is OFFICIALLY my Christmas kid.

On Thanksgiving day, as soon as we finished eating, he told us proudly that Thanksgiving was now over...so we had to go home and set up our Christmas Tree.

Sigh.

We were able to hold him off until the next morning...at precisely 6:30 am...which is when he entered our room and told us that we was NOW the day AFTER Thanksgiving...and that means we MUST set up Christmas.

So, that's what we did.

After a quick bowl of serial...we started setting up Christmas in the wee hours of the morning.

That's how most of the month went.

The kids filled with daily excitement and wonder during the month of December.

We did our annual "trip" downtown overnight.

Fred (our elf) pulled off nightly antics...and quite frankly...I'm glad he's back at the "North Pole" for another year...he is exhausting.

There were gingerbread house parties.

Visits with Santa.

Lights.

Minivan express (more lights).

Oh yes...did I tell you we looked at a lot of lights?

We made lots of treats...which of only half were appetizing to me.

Christmas candy though?

Bring it on.

We got chickens (hens) finally. Our good friends donated 3 to us. Their names are Santa (named by Oliver, the christmas lover), Torren (named by Bella...that is the name of the daughter of Thor...if its related to Thor...I'll approve)...and Ruby (because I have to name one living female in my life Ruby at some point).

They give us 2-3 eggs a day, and follow us around the yard like puppies.

I sort of love them.

Oliver celebrated a birthday..which we can cover later in this blog.It was a monster of a good time.

And of course Christmas.

This year, Alma and I opted to not buy for eachother and instead donate that money somewhere else.

It actually made me get in the holiday spirit for the first time this year.

I think it was better thank presents...and may become tradition.

The kids were thrilled with Christmas morning...which is always a bonus.

Add that to the gifts from grandparents and cousins and aunts.....and I've officially decided they are spoiled.

Bella had 3 recitals in the month of December (crazy, I know).

And Oliver had a stellar preschool program....the kid really loves to sing.

In this video..he's on the left(ish)...khaki pants/white shirt/red bow tie. 

 

And now, the year is ending.

2013 looks to hold new adventures, and I'm sure new trials...which will turn to lessons and blessing in the end that I always look back and end up grateful for.

A resolution of mine for 2013 is to blog ONCE A WEEK.

Here goes nothing....

Mile High City

I'm way behind on blogging.
We'll blame it on....well...laziness I suppose.
That...and growning a human tends to make me tired at the end of the day....the only time I feel like I can blog without mommy guilt sinking into my soul.

Early in November, I was able to go to Denver with some of my girlfriends to visit our friend Lindsey.
I've been to Denver before...but it's been just the airport or a drive through on the way to Vail....so, technically this was my first adventure here.

I didn't think I would love it as much as I did.
There are so many cute little shops....and eataries....my focus, of course, was the eataries.
No surprise there.

Some hightlights:
1. The "Ghost Tour" at the Stanley Mansion in Estes Park (about 1 hr out of Denver).
This is most famous for it's role in "The Shining"...and (surprise to me) "Dumb and Dumber".
No, we didn't see any ghosts...no surprise there. But the area is gorgeous and it was a fun experience.

2. The Market
A deli in downtown Denver..patterned after a NY deli. Seeing as I've never been to NYC, I can only go by word of mouth and what I see on TV, but let me tell you...it was A-MAZE-ING. Food, salads...and OH the desserts.

3. Washington Park Grill
Again food....typical  for me on a trip...I eat my way through a city.
We had brunch here...and I think there was crack or something in the waffles....I'm not a big waffle eater...but I think I ate 6 of them. Seriously.

4. Hanging out with the girls.
This includes time sitting in my PJ's for hours staring blankly at the TV or laughing over one ridiculous conversation or another. It's always a good time with these gals.

A Lowlight:
1. Apparently...I'm not a good pregnant traveler.
Keep in mind I flew in helicopters and bouncy airplanes for 2 years straight as a job...and only got sick once in a bouncy and hot flight from Rock Springs to SLC.
However, I managed to get sick on the 60 minute calm flight from SLC to Denver this trip.
Then again in the car on the was back from Estes Park (this required an emergency pull over.....and I no longer want Mexican food ever again...you can guess what happened there).
Then everytime I was in the car...if it wasn't the front...I was queezy.
Lovely.
Now I know what to excpect when flying when pregnant...and I'm starting to realize that it's a good thing my job no longer requires flying...because I'd be a wreck.

Overall...a great trip and fun way to kick off November.

Thank you ladies. And thank you Denver!