Worth the Drive

On Friday, we made a last minute phone call to our friends the Ashton's. Shawn and Mark share the same birthday so we are bound to think of them atleast once a year! hee hee. We really enjoy their company, but since they live on the other side of town we rarely get to see them. We thought it would be nice to go out for a late "birthday" dinner for the two of them. Unfortunately we couldn't get a babysitter on such short notice, and decided that we would put it off for another time. Shawn and I were talking after I had gotten off the phone with Cindi. Because of different conflicts the next time we would be able to get together would be a month from now. We decided that we would make the 45 minute drive out to their house, and Cindi's sister could watch both our kids while we went out.

It was a long drive, but I am so glad that we decided to make it. We went and ate at Famous Dave's....and ohhhh my....that was good food! I have never eaten there before, but I am so glad that Mark recommended it. We got Famous Dave's Feast, and shared it between the 4 of us. They even gave Mark and Shawn these huge Sundae's for their birthday. I left there stuffed, but man was it worth it! I highly recommend this restaurant!

Afterwards, we were debating whether or not to catch a movie. We decided to opt out, and go back to their house to hang out. We went back to find that our kids had had a blast playing together. It didn't click until the way back to their house that it was as if Cindi's sister was having to watch two sets of twins because our children are the same age! It was probably a little chaotic, but she did a great job. They did some face painting, and I left my camera so she could take some photos. Sydney looked so cute as a little cat (try to ignore the fact that she is trying to pick her nose!). As usual...Caden did not want to participate...so there are no fun pictures of him.

While we were there Caden got a hold of the camera. He loves to take pictures, and whenever he finds the camera he starts snapping away. I have to say that I was so impressed with one of the shots that he got of Lanah. I may have a budding photographer on my hands!

Over all it was such a fun evening. I am so glad that we took the time to go out there, and I actually thought it was nice that our kids got to play together. They really had a lot of fun, and so did we. I am so thankful for our friendship with this family. They are great people, and so much fun to be around. Mark and Cindi always have a way of making me laugh until I cry. That is a great thing. I thought about what we would have missed out on if we would have not gone. I think there are many times that we decide not to do something because it is "so far", and don't want to "waste" so much time in the car. Some things are just worth the drive...I need to remind myself this more often!

Here is some pictures of Caden, Sydney, Lanah, and Payton. They surely are a cute bunch of kids!

An Amazing Woman

This past weekend has been long, exhausting, and traumatic. Now that it is all over I need to tell you about an amazing woman. That woman is my sister, Cathy. On Friday evening Cathy was admitted into the hospital because she had developed pre-eclampsia/toxemia in her pregnancy. Over the past couple of months she has had excessive swelling, and last week her blood pressure was rising. They ordered some blood work, and that is what landed her in the hospital. I hated hearing the nurses say it all weekend, but she was very sick.

I ended up going down there around 11:30 pm on Friday and was there until Sunday late afternoon. They had her on Magnesium (the nurses told her it would make her feel like she had been hit by a semi). She actually did well with it until later on Sunday. The Mag. was given to her to increase her threshold so that she wouldn't go into convulsions. The problem with that is it is a muscle relaxer for the uterus...so it was kinda counter productive for her induction. She was given a pill once every four hours that helped to soften her cervix, and get it ready for labor. This went on until 4:00 PM on June 2. That is when her water broke. Once her water broke they started her on pitocin. This made it very hard on her because we found out the baby was posterior (like Caden was) So with every contraction that she had there were shooting pains all across her lower back. This went on for 18 hours without an epidural! She was absolutely miserable. I wish that I could have done more for her. I was/am so amazed at how well she did with the pain. She was practically dilated to a 10 minus the little lip of the cervix that needed to thin out. Because the baby was already in the birth canal...his little head continued to hit up against that lip, and caused it to swell. There was no way that the swelling was going to go down, and that is when they opted for the c-section.

The c-section was very risky. The reason why they didn't do it in the first place was because her platelets were so low. Platelets are the cells in your blood that help it to clot. A normal person has 300,000 to 400,000 in their blood. When Cathy was admitted she only had 73,000. (In order to have an epidural your platelet level has to be atleast 100,000) They didn't want to have to do a c-section because there is a possibility that her blood would not clot. Her platelet level got as high as 95,000, but fluctuated alot through out the whole process. By the time it was decided to have the c-section they were up to 85,000. So she couldn't get an epidural or a spinal block. She had to be completely put out. Because she was put out, Jesse (her husband) could not be in the room. We sat in her room until they came and got us...when the baby was in the nursery.

She had the baby at 12:08 pm on Sunday, and he is doing really well. However, she was not. By the time she was going to go into surgery her kidney were not functioning very well. She was getting rid of little to no fluid...and then the fluid was practically just blood. She spent the next day in the ICU so that she could be under constant supervision. Yesterday she was finally upgraded in her status, and once a room opens up in post partum she will be able to move back downstairs, and be with her baby. She still has a long road for recovery, but atleast she is progressing.

Cathy really has been so strong through all of this. I know that she doesn't think so, but she really was. She hardly complained, and took each contraction like a trooper. She was completely exhausted because she really didn't get much sleep...she was awake for practically 48 hours. My heart ached for the process that she had to go through. My deliveries have been wonderful experiences, and hers was an absolute nightmare. She only got to see her baby for the first time almost 24 hours after he was born. I am just thankful that she is doing better, and she no longer has to deal with the pain that she has endured this weekend. It really is incredible the sacrifices that we make in order to bring a precious little child into this world. I want to introduce to the newest little member of my extended family. This is Dylan.

Lions, and Tigers, and Bears...oh my!

Yesterday, I was selected to participate in a study, and went to go pick up the product that I would be using. Delve is located down the street from the Phoenix Zoo so I thought that we would go there while we were there. It was so much fun...I just wish that I would have brought my camera!!! The last couple of times that we have done things, I have forgotten it and have missed out on some great pictures!

I actually ended up getting a membership. I had gotten one a few years ago, but when the renewal came up I just let it expire. Now that Sydney is a little older she can really appreciate the fun that comes with visiting the zoo. It was a little hot, but not too bad. The zoo even has a little water area that the kids can play in. Caden didn't want play in the water this time, but hopefully he will in the future.

We spent a good part of the day there, and got lots of exercise walking all over the zoo. I really am looking forward to going there more often. I know it sounds crazy here in AZ where it gets so hot, but as long as we keep hydrated we can have alot of fun. It was so fun to see how excited they both were when they found the animal in each exhibit. It was like playing "I Spy".
We didn't get to see every animal, but we did see a fair share of them. It will be something to look forward to.

We also bought a Family Season Swim pass for the local pool. My kids have always been a little leery of the water, but with alot more exposure I hope they will like it a little more. We have signed up for swim lessons so they will be spending alot of time in the water! Maybe this year I will actually get a tan! I know it is not the best for you, but I look so much better with a tint. :)

I am trying to get some sort of routine down for me and the kids. I have decided that we really need to go do 'something' each day. You see, I am pretty boring. Besides getting out of the house to go the gym...we pretty much stay home. I have come to the conclusion that the reason why my house always seems like a train wreck is because we are home ALL THE TIME. I want to set something up so the kids always know that " Hey its Monday! We are going to _____ today. I figured we could go to the library, swimming, zoo. I am trying to think of other things, but would like to have one specific place where we will go each day. I figure that if we spend some time each day out of the house...it will make it a little bit more manageable.

What are some fun things that you do with your kids?

Wordless Wednesday - Sick babies!

For more participants check out Wordless Wednesday HQ or 5 Minutes for Mom!

This is a result of yesterday's happenings!

What a "Fun" Day!

Yesterday turned out to be pretty interesting. I got a call in the morning from Susie. Susie and I were in the same flight attendant class back in the day. This is a picture of us back when were were in class ( 7 years ago!) Shannon, another F/A friend, was having an impromtu lunch, and wanted to know if we could go. I hadn't seen them in quite some time so I was excited to see them. I headed over to Susie's house around noon, and then we were going to follow eachother over to lunch.

Everything seemed to be going great. The kids were doing good, and we were on our way. We had barely left Susie's house when it happened. I heard Sydney making choking noises. I looked back and she was throwing up all over herself. (Sorry if the picture grosses you out) I figured that she had swallowed her water too fast and something made her gag. We turned around and went back to Susie's. We hosed down the carseat, gave Syd a bath, and then we were back on the road. When were were almost there Syd threw up again (but not really much - probably because she didn't have anything to throw up). Then when we were in the restaurant she threw up again - in the bathroom this time! For whatever reason I thought it was a fluke. She didn't seem to act sick, had no fever, but just kept gagging.

On the way home, Sydney fell asleep...and Caden almost did. I was going to stop to pick up something to eat because we didn't get anything at the Sushi place (I don't do fish.) I asked Caden if he wanted to get something. He said "No, Mom...I want to go home and go to sleep. I am tired!" I thought that was strange, but decided to head home. I was just around the corner from our house when Caden proceeded to throw up all over himself.

The rest of the day consisted of Sydney throwing up one other time, and Caden multiple times over the course of many hours. Thankfully he now knows to go for the bowl. Caden actually put himself to bed and they were both in bed since about 5 pm last night. They both woke up occasionaly, but never fully got out of bed. :( My poor kids!

They woke up this morning around 6, and have been laying around. I am afraid to give them anything to eat for fear that they will throw it all up! I hope they get better soon-and pray that I don't get sick too!

My Babies

Are sick! I have had to clean up throw up more than I wish to account for. I will write more of the story later. I just hope this doesn't last long!

My journey for Caden

If you asked me when I was young what I wanted to be when I grew up...I probably would have told you a mother. For as long as I can remember I looked forward to the day when I would be able to have children of my own. I love children, and dote on them whenever I have the opportunity. There is something about a child that brings something alive inside of me. It helps me to have a lighter outlook on life, and just brings me so much joy when I am around them.

Shawn and I had been married about a year and a half (it was fall 2001) when we felt it was time to "start" our family. I was excited of the aspect of having a child, and just couldn't wait! Well, my Heavenly Father had other plans. Month after month of disappointment followed. I didn't understand why I was not pregnant. We had been trying for a whole year, and nothing. I wanted to be pregnant so badly, but was not willing to go to the doctor to find out why we were not pregnant yet. I was so fearful that they would tell me that I would never be able to have children. So instead I tried to do everything to educate myself.

The best book that I have ever read on the subject is Taking Charge of Your Fertility. It helped me to understand how my body works. I was able to arm myself with knowledge in case my worst fear came to. I charted, took temperatures, everything....still nothing happened. I had my beloved yearly coming in February, and came to terms that if I was not pregnant by then...I would talk to my doctor about it. That is when I think I finally gave into my fear, and gave it back to the Lord.

I knew in the end it was in His hands...he knew the timetable. Lo and behold after 15 months of heartache, and tears. I found out I was pregnant! That is when my journey began....

More to follow later!

Whirlwind of a week!

Okay, okay, I know I have been slacking yet again! I have really wanted to post stuff, but just haven't had the time. Last week was CRAZY! I finally feel like I can breathe again. Forgive the long post, but I need to get this all down so I don't forget!

On Monday, it was my turn to have the kids for the kid swap. It turned out pretty well. Caden, Kent, Mallory, Sydney and Eldon had a lot of fun together. Six hours wasn't really that bad, but I didn't have a second to do anything but play with them. This is one thing that I like about the kid swapping. For once, I really have to focus just on the children. I don't do anything for me...I just spend time with them. We play, we laugh, and we have a good time. It does come with some craziness also.

The three older kids are on the road to diaperless days. They are all doing really well, but this day was a doozy! To top it off in the morning I had Syd in underwear in the morning because she had a yeast infection and I was trying to "air" her out. Right before Karyn showed up with her kids, Sydney pooped in the underwear -- that was #1 of cleaning poop out of pants. Shortly after the kids were there...Kent pooped in his pants (#2)! Then later that day Caden decided he wanted take a turn so he did his business in his pants *joy* (#3). Kent was so excited to be here today he had multiple accidents... So by the time Karyn got here he had gone through all his changes of clothes, and only had a shirt and underwear! Like I said...whew! Overall they are doing lots better, and I will have them again this Friday.

It does sound like alot of work, and some people may think that I have absolutely insane for wanting to do this, but it really is working out. Karyn is an absolute doll to work with. It is so refreshing to get a "no strings attached" break every other week. And as time goes by we will get a better grip on doing more constructive, and imaginative things with the kids.

On Tuesday and Thursday's Caden has Joy School. Joy School is a pre-school co-op that is taught by different mothers. The curriculum is based on different Joy's ie. Joy of the Body, Earth, Honesty & Communication etc. We also teach a little Kindergarten preparedness. I really like the program, and Caden absolutely loves it! I am in it with about 5 other mothers. So that means that I teach the kids once every 5 weeks. This was my week!

It is always fun when we have Joy School at our house, but by the time they leave our house is a wreck! It is amazing what 6 little 3 & 4 year olds can do in just 2 hours! To top it off it was raining on one of the days so they were confined to the inside. Usually they do the majority of the playing outside, and it keeps my house somewhat manageable, but lets just say that I am glad that my week is over and I won't have to teach again for another 5 weeks!

Some other fun news is our upcoming Family vacation. Now before you think that we vacation all the time, and have lots of money...we do not. It just happens that we just got back from our Anniversary trip, and this deal feel into our laps.

My sister, Nancy, is also a flight attendant. After our trip we were over at their house for dinner. We were talking about how fun it would be to go on a trip together. We really wanted to go on a Disney Cruise. We chatted about it for a while, but just kinda dismissed it because we figured it wouldn't happen for a while. A couple of days later we got an email from Perx (the interline travel agency) that had a screaming deal for a Disney 11 night Mediterranean Cruise in May! She called me immediately and said that they were going to book it. Shawn had to talk to his boss to see if he could get the time off, but we really wanted to go!

In the mean time we needed to get all of our passport stuff in order. Shawn's passport is expiring in May. Mine wasn't going to expire, but it was still in my Maiden name...so that needed to be changed. Our kids didn't have any...so that is when the adventure began. I went to the file to get the kids birth certificates. I have a file for each one of us that has all of our "important" papers. I found Sydney's, but when I went for Caden's both his birth certificate and social security card were missing! I racked my brain trying to figure out where it could be! It was so frustrating! If I couldn't find them I would have to drive down to vital records, and wait in line to get a new one! For days this past week I looked everywhere. With all the kids around this week...yes my house was a mess, but not that messy! I searched and searched, and finally conceded that on Friday morning I would wake up and drive down there to get a new one.

That night before I went to bed, I got down on my knees and prayed. I asked Heavenly Father to help open my mind so that I could remember where I had put the documents. When I got up in the morning, I got the kids their breakfast and thought I would look in the files one last time before we headed off for vital records. I sat at the desk, and thought I would go through all the files just in case they got stuffed in the wrong file folder. I started at the front and went one by one. Half way through it dawned on me! A few months ago I had to use his birth certificate and social security card to register him for something and I had put it in a different folder to bring it there! I ran to the pantry, and lo and behold it was stuffed there in the back. I hadn't even thought to look there because I had organized it recently! Heavenly Father is an amazing person! He really does answer our prayers! Even it is for the simplest thing of finding a birth certificate!

On Friday the Elder's Quorum (group of men in church) and their families came over to our house for a shin-dig. It was an "Incredible" Movie night. They brought a projector and then taped up a sheet to our back wall and we watched Incredibles and had popcorn, candy, and licorice! It was a blast, and I can't wait to do it again!

On Saturday we got to make the trek to the post office to process, and submit our passports. It was to open at 7:30. I wanted to be down there by 7 so we wouldn't have to wait too long, but with kids...you never seem to get there when you want to. We did get there before 7:30, but there was already a line formed. Those are the times when I would just love to say...excuse me, but I have 2 children that aren't going to last very long...could we cut :) Instead we were polite, and waited. In the mean time, Caden said he needed to go potty...there was no bathroom. So I told him to wait. Sydney proceeded to scream whenever Caden got near her or cry whenever I walked away for a second even though Shawn was standing right next to her! When we finally got up there we were told that we would have to expedite them because it is taking 10 weeks instead of the usual 6 weeks to process! That meant that we had to pay $60 additional for each passport!!!! That was frustrating, but I guess it is better to be safe than to be sorry! We need them by May 25. So two hours and a whole lot of money later we were finally done! Now we will just have to wait to get them in the mail!

We did actually book the cruise, and are really looking forward to it. It will be the only family vacation that we will take this year. I am excited to be able to spend time with Nancy and her family. I hear that Disney Cruises are the best, and who could beat the ports that we will be going into! The only place in Europe that I have been to is Madrid, Spain (we went there for our honeymoon...my husband served a mission there.) The cruise starts in Barcelona and then goes to several places throughout Italy and France!!!!! This will be an unforgettable experience!

Sunday, was a little quieter. We went to church as usual. In the morning I got a call from the music leader in Primary (class for the little ones). She was ill and wanted to know if I could fill in for her. I was happy to do it...this was my previous calling (job) at church. Every thing went okay at first. Caden just started going to primary this year, and had never been there when I was teaching. I have to say that I was disappointed when I first got released from my calling, but I now know it is for the best. Caden was terrible! He didn't want to sit in his seat because he wanted to be by me. When I made him go sit down he began to cry. Then through out the whole time I was teaching the music he cried off and on. They had to take him out of the class several times so that he would not distract the other children! Why does our children act so differently when we are around!?

It truly was the week of having visitors at our house! It was fun, but had me completely and utterly exhausted! This Monday I got to drop my kids off at Karyn's, and get some things done, and I finally feel like I am accomplishing something! I think that I will actually be able to post a Tackle it Tuesday today...I am hoping to do my laundry room...so check back later!

Kid Swapping

About a month ago, our family got together with The O. Family for dinner at the park. Justin and Shawn are good friends from high school, and we have always tried to continue to nourish the friendship. They had Kent a few weeks before Caden was born and we were determined to make them be friends. :) Every time we would get together we would plop them next to each other and take photos. The Boys always seem to have fun together, but we wondered if they actually remembered each other between our visits. Over the years, the Olson's have moved around. They were gone for a while to Virginia, but they recently moved into a house close by.

As Karyn and I were chatting away at the park we some how got on the subject about how hard it is do get anything done while we have the kids. I joked around about how nice it would be to have a robot that I could have around when I wanted to make a quick errand without the kids. That is when she offerred to do a kid swap. She would watch my kids for 3 hours at a time, and then I would watch hers. She had been trying to do the same thing with her sister, but it wasn't quite working out. So she said to call her if I was interested, and we would go from there.

I went home and looked at my calendar...lo and behold I had an appointment that I needed to go to the following week. So I called up Karyn and took her up on it! Let me tell you it was wonderful! I was able to go to my doctors appointment and then do some shopping --- ALL BY MYSELF!! It was very refreshing! When I was all done it was so nice to go and see our children playing together. Karyn also has Mallory (2) and Eldon (will be 1 in August).

When we got back from our vacation I was able to return the favor for her...and we have agreed this is the best thing ever!!! After a few tweeks we have decided to take a plunge. Only instead of watching each others kids once a week(which equates to 2 times together--once for each of us) for 3 hours at time we will switch back and forth on Mondays and watch them for 6 hours! I know it sounds crazy, but Karyn did it on Monday for me! (THANK YOU!) It was fabulous! There is alot that you can get done in 3 hours, but 6 was even better.

Our theory was this...sometimes it takes a little bit to get going. With having 6 hours you really can get alot done, and the kids only are going 1 place a week. We really hope that it will work out. I have to tell you it has been great to have this opportunity. It has been something that I have always wanted, but hadn't found someone that it would work out so well with. If you can find someone...do it! It is such a blessing!

The great thing about it is that Caden and Kent are really starting to develop a deeper friendship than the "plop me down and take a photo" induced friendship of their parents. Hopefully when they get older they can look at all the photos from when they were babies, and see that they truly have been friends for life! We hope that Syd and Mallory will be able to say the same. Here is a slide show of all the fun that these kids have had together through the years!