Monday, February 6, 2012
we are home!
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Joshy update
I am sitting here in a chair at the hospital looking at my beautiful twelve day old Joshua. He is lying on his back, sleeping peacefully in his crib with tubes in his nose, wires on his chest and cords on his feet. In my motherly opinion I think he is the most brave, most charming and most gorgeous little baby in the world. The nurses and doctors keep reaffirming this notion by constantly telling me how cute he is.
Yesterday morning my mom and I looked at his umbilical stump, which was bleeding and infected looking and grimaced. “That doesn’t look normal. Maybe we should call the pediatrician.”
Our pediatrician was out for the weekend, but his partner said to bring him in.
The umbilical area was treated, I was told to keep an eye on it, and home we went.
Around 2:00 Joshy’s breath was labored, and he was coughing and gagging on phlegm.
“That doesn’t sound normal. Maybe we should call the pediatrician.”
“Hi, I brought my baby in this morning, this is my third baby, and I swear I am not an overly paranoid mother, but…”
I was told to bring him in again, and after a ten minute examination the pediatrician told me I needed to head immediately over to the emergency room at Primary Children’s Hospital. Joshy was sick, having trouble breathing and needed immediate care. It could not wait until the evening. He said he would call the hospital right away and tell them I was on my way.
I was brave, but as I passed the receptionist on my way out, and saw the look of horrible pity in her eyes as she said quietly, “Good luck”, I started to cry.
I held this baby inside for nine months, and I loved him. But in the last eleven days I had fallen wholly and irreversibly in love with him. I held him close, adored his amazing little cleft chin, pronounced nose, chubby cheeks, long toes. I had watched my husband and boys adore their, “new baby”. Nothing could happen to this little angel.
I was relieved when after the third call Mark answered and said he would meet me at the hospital. I need him to be my side. He is my partner and my love and my strength.
We were admitted yesterday afternoon. Back in the hospital on the day he was officially “due”.
Joshua has a virus and bronchiolitis. His little body is having a hard time getting enough oxygen because of the mucus in his nose and his enflamed bronchioles. We have been blessed that he has not yet developed any fever, and is still nursing well and staying hydrated. Because of this he has avoided having an i.v, spinal tap and antibiotics. We pray he does not develop a fever and continues to nurse. They have been trying to wean him off of his oxygen, but he has not been able to maintain healthy levels on his own yet.
Because the symptoms of most of these viruses get worse over the first 5-7 days, before getting better, we will most likely be here at least a couple of days. Considering his age and sickness, I think he is doing very well.
I always know I love my little family, but events like this make the love I feel for Mark, Russ Russ, Lukey and Joshua so acute. These boys make my life so rich and meaningful and filled with love. Say a prayer for Joshy. Hopefully we will be home and healthy very soon.
Yesterday morning my mom and I looked at his umbilical stump, which was bleeding and infected looking and grimaced. “That doesn’t look normal. Maybe we should call the pediatrician.”
Our pediatrician was out for the weekend, but his partner said to bring him in.
The umbilical area was treated, I was told to keep an eye on it, and home we went.
Around 2:00 Joshy’s breath was labored, and he was coughing and gagging on phlegm.
“That doesn’t sound normal. Maybe we should call the pediatrician.”
“Hi, I brought my baby in this morning, this is my third baby, and I swear I am not an overly paranoid mother, but…”
I was told to bring him in again, and after a ten minute examination the pediatrician told me I needed to head immediately over to the emergency room at Primary Children’s Hospital. Joshy was sick, having trouble breathing and needed immediate care. It could not wait until the evening. He said he would call the hospital right away and tell them I was on my way.
I was brave, but as I passed the receptionist on my way out, and saw the look of horrible pity in her eyes as she said quietly, “Good luck”, I started to cry.
I held this baby inside for nine months, and I loved him. But in the last eleven days I had fallen wholly and irreversibly in love with him. I held him close, adored his amazing little cleft chin, pronounced nose, chubby cheeks, long toes. I had watched my husband and boys adore their, “new baby”. Nothing could happen to this little angel.
I was relieved when after the third call Mark answered and said he would meet me at the hospital. I need him to be my side. He is my partner and my love and my strength.
We were admitted yesterday afternoon. Back in the hospital on the day he was officially “due”.
Joshua has a virus and bronchiolitis. His little body is having a hard time getting enough oxygen because of the mucus in his nose and his enflamed bronchioles. We have been blessed that he has not yet developed any fever, and is still nursing well and staying hydrated. Because of this he has avoided having an i.v, spinal tap and antibiotics. We pray he does not develop a fever and continues to nurse. They have been trying to wean him off of his oxygen, but he has not been able to maintain healthy levels on his own yet.
Because the symptoms of most of these viruses get worse over the first 5-7 days, before getting better, we will most likely be here at least a couple of days. Considering his age and sickness, I think he is doing very well.
I always know I love my little family, but events like this make the love I feel for Mark, Russ Russ, Lukey and Joshua so acute. These boys make my life so rich and meaningful and filled with love. Say a prayer for Joshy. Hopefully we will be home and healthy very soon.
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Saturday, January 28, 2012
It's baby time
We were excited and somewhat surprised when my water broke at 2 am Monday morning. Surprised because this baby was coming somewhere between 8 and 12 days early (we didn't think we could do early babys at our house), but only somewhat surprised because my body had been warning me for days. We were not entirely ready, but threw some things in a bag, called my sister to come over and stay with the kids -what a saint- and drove to the hospital.
The labor went smoothly and at 3:23 we met Joshua Beck Gardner. He was 19 1/2 inches long and 8 lb 15.4oz. Less than an ounce smaller than Russ Russ was. I was grateful he decided to come early and I did not have to give birth to a 10 1/2 pound baby!
Russell could not be more in love with his new brother. He sings to him, tells him, "It's ok baby, I'm here, I'm here" when the baby cries, and tells us about 100 times per day how cute the new baby is.
Lukey has been a good little boy and loves his baby brother as well. He has not yet thrown a heavy toy at Joshua's head or slapped him in the face, which we think is a positive sign.
The labor went smoothly and at 3:23 we met Joshua Beck Gardner. He was 19 1/2 inches long and 8 lb 15.4oz. Less than an ounce smaller than Russ Russ was. I was grateful he decided to come early and I did not have to give birth to a 10 1/2 pound baby!
Lukey has been a good little boy and loves his baby brother as well. He has not yet thrown a heavy toy at Joshua's head or slapped him in the face, which we think is a positive sign.
So far we are adjusting well, but that is probably only because my mom is here being super-mom, and super-grandma, and super-cook, and super-cleaner woman. She had been planning on coming Friday afternoon, but when we called her at 6 am monday morning, she cancelled her clients for the week, changed her flight and was in Salt Lake by noon. We are so spoiled and so grateful to her!
Friday, December 30, 2011
Greased Pig Contest
When I was seventeen our church organized a teen event for all of us in the area. A couple hundred of us trekked out of Las Vegas to a nearby ranch for a day and night of fun. The most memorable activity was the greased pig contest.
There was a fenced in area, and greased pink pigs–squealing and running around like crazy. There were a bunch of teenagers dressed in jumpsuits, sprinting and attempting to tackle the swine. The point of the game was to capture the greased pig in your arms. Looking back it seems like such a horrible form of animal cruelty, but the teenage brain is not exactly fully developed, and at the time it was incredible fun.
Fast forward ten years, and my little family has just moved to Utah. The climate is much more dry than Southern California. The children’s skin is suffering, and breaking out in horrible dry rashes. An addition to our daily routine has been added, and looks like this;
A fenced in arena – Luke’s room with the door shut.
Two pink naked boys --fresh from the tubby, squealing, giggling and running around in circles trying to escape me.
A determined mother, with lotion covering her hands sprinting and tackling the boys to lather them up from head to toe.
Every time we enter the room and close the door to begin the chase I am taken straight back to that greased pig contest.
There was a fenced in area, and greased pink pigs–squealing and running around like crazy. There were a bunch of teenagers dressed in jumpsuits, sprinting and attempting to tackle the swine. The point of the game was to capture the greased pig in your arms. Looking back it seems like such a horrible form of animal cruelty, but the teenage brain is not exactly fully developed, and at the time it was incredible fun.
Fast forward ten years, and my little family has just moved to Utah. The climate is much more dry than Southern California. The children’s skin is suffering, and breaking out in horrible dry rashes. An addition to our daily routine has been added, and looks like this;
A fenced in arena – Luke’s room with the door shut.
Two pink naked boys --fresh from the tubby, squealing, giggling and running around in circles trying to escape me.
A determined mother, with lotion covering her hands sprinting and tackling the boys to lather them up from head to toe.
Every time we enter the room and close the door to begin the chase I am taken straight back to that greased pig contest.
During the original competition there was this kid named Leo. He made a jump for the pig, threw his arms around the pig’s waist and grabbed tight. That poor kid got pooped on.
Let’s just say one of the other side effects of moving to Utah was a couple weeks of the flu, and yes, during one of our chases this poor mom made a jump, a grab, and got pooped on. I wish I was wearing a jumpsuit.
Friday, December 23, 2011
We may not be ready to turn in our California drivers licenses, or take the California plates off of our cars, but we have changed the presets on our radios.
Leaving Los Angeles was like breaking up with that boy you knew you should not marry. We had been together for five years, and the familiarity of the place made the thought of leaving frightening, but exciting as well. It was time to start playing the field again. Time to see if we could find a better fit. But would the next boyfriend be better or worse? Would we look back in a few months and think, “I’m so glad I did that, this new place is such a better fit for us”? Or would we come crawling back to LA with our tail between our legs and beg him to take us back?
Once our decision had been made, and we knew the breakup was coming, there were many moments Mark and I looked at each other and said, “What the heck are we doing?”
There are so many reasons we fell in love with California. We had infinite opportunities for new and exciting adventures. We had a list of fun things we wanted to do, but the longer we lived there, and the more we crossed off, the longer our list became, because we just kept hearing about more places to see, things to do, restaurants to try, beaches and mountains to explore. We will miss the year-round hiking, camping, beaches, museums, daily walks to the park, farmers markets, amusements parks, tide pools and day trips. And it was hard to leave perfect weather, and friends we had come to love.
Los Angeles was almost all we knew as a married couple. We had lived there for most our marriage, and was the only place we had been parents.
But we had so many logical reasons to leave. The ever-growing expenses of our ever-growing family were making it difficult to get by, with me choosing to stay home and raise our kids. We were feeling pretty crammed in our 2 bedroom apartment, and dragging our mattress out to the family room every night for 15 months was getting a little old. Schools are always an issue there, and not having Mark at home before the kids were asleep was not ideal. If we moved to the school district and neighborhood where we wanted to settle, Mark would be gone an extra 2 hours a day. The reality that the majority of Russ and Luke’s grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins did not really know them also made us sad.
All in all, things have been much easier here. The best improvement is having Mark home before the kids are in bed. He has not had a job landing him home in the evenings before, and having him home around six is beautiful. I have to sacrifice sleeping in a little longer in the mornings, but it is completely worth it. Check with me in a couple months and we have a one-month old, I might be singing a different tune.
We have the opportunity to see family and friends much more. Loved ones have been incredibly helpful to us during our move, and over the last three weeks. We have been the recipients of so many services from family, friends and strangers. Yes, we have had about 15 families from our neighborhood bring us treats and dinners and welcoming us. Mark and I have been shocked by all the kindness.
Having a garage is a definite improvement. I can strap the kids in without first having to navigate through halls, stairwells, a pool and a parking lot. Having a washer and dryer comes close behind.
Yes, it is cold. But if you are going to move to Utah in the dead of winter, I recommend doing it when you are 8 months pregnant and your body's thermostat is a little out of whack anyway. The boys only took a few days to adjust, and now they want to play outside even in 30 degree weather.
Quick story; the boys and I have been used to walking to the park almost every day. The first day we were in our new house Russ said, "Let's go to the park".
'Why not?' I thought. 'It doesn't seem too cold, and they have coats. I bundled them up, loaded them in the double stroller and walked the four houses to the park. We got there, the boys just stood in the grass, unable to move, snot and tears were running down both of their cheeks.
"It's flippin cold at this park." Russ says, "Let's go to a biffrent park." Sorry kid, all the parks in Utah are going to be this cold.
He also recently told me, "Cars in Utah drive sloooooow."
But, if you ask him if he wants to move back to our home in California, he gives a loud, "NO!" He loves our new house.
Back to the dating analogy- are we ready to accept a ring from Utah and make an eternal commitment? Give me a break, we have only been dating 3 weeks and we haven’t even had our first kiss yet. But I think we will try him out a little longer. We are quite happy here in our new home and environment, but let us not pretend that any of us know what the future will bring.
Merry Christmas everyone!
Once our decision had been made, and we knew the breakup was coming, there were many moments Mark and I looked at each other and said, “What the heck are we doing?”
There are so many reasons we fell in love with California. We had infinite opportunities for new and exciting adventures. We had a list of fun things we wanted to do, but the longer we lived there, and the more we crossed off, the longer our list became, because we just kept hearing about more places to see, things to do, restaurants to try, beaches and mountains to explore. We will miss the year-round hiking, camping, beaches, museums, daily walks to the park, farmers markets, amusements parks, tide pools and day trips. And it was hard to leave perfect weather, and friends we had come to love.
Los Angeles was almost all we knew as a married couple. We had lived there for most our marriage, and was the only place we had been parents.
But we had so many logical reasons to leave. The ever-growing expenses of our ever-growing family were making it difficult to get by, with me choosing to stay home and raise our kids. We were feeling pretty crammed in our 2 bedroom apartment, and dragging our mattress out to the family room every night for 15 months was getting a little old. Schools are always an issue there, and not having Mark at home before the kids were asleep was not ideal. If we moved to the school district and neighborhood where we wanted to settle, Mark would be gone an extra 2 hours a day. The reality that the majority of Russ and Luke’s grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins did not really know them also made us sad.
All in all, things have been much easier here. The best improvement is having Mark home before the kids are in bed. He has not had a job landing him home in the evenings before, and having him home around six is beautiful. I have to sacrifice sleeping in a little longer in the mornings, but it is completely worth it. Check with me in a couple months and we have a one-month old, I might be singing a different tune.
We have the opportunity to see family and friends much more. Loved ones have been incredibly helpful to us during our move, and over the last three weeks. We have been the recipients of so many services from family, friends and strangers. Yes, we have had about 15 families from our neighborhood bring us treats and dinners and welcoming us. Mark and I have been shocked by all the kindness.
Having a garage is a definite improvement. I can strap the kids in without first having to navigate through halls, stairwells, a pool and a parking lot. Having a washer and dryer comes close behind.
Yes, it is cold. But if you are going to move to Utah in the dead of winter, I recommend doing it when you are 8 months pregnant and your body's thermostat is a little out of whack anyway. The boys only took a few days to adjust, and now they want to play outside even in 30 degree weather.
Quick story; the boys and I have been used to walking to the park almost every day. The first day we were in our new house Russ said, "Let's go to the park".
'Why not?' I thought. 'It doesn't seem too cold, and they have coats. I bundled them up, loaded them in the double stroller and walked the four houses to the park. We got there, the boys just stood in the grass, unable to move, snot and tears were running down both of their cheeks.
"It's flippin cold at this park." Russ says, "Let's go to a biffrent park." Sorry kid, all the parks in Utah are going to be this cold.
He also recently told me, "Cars in Utah drive sloooooow."
But, if you ask him if he wants to move back to our home in California, he gives a loud, "NO!" He loves our new house.
Back to the dating analogy- are we ready to accept a ring from Utah and make an eternal commitment? Give me a break, we have only been dating 3 weeks and we haven’t even had our first kiss yet. But I think we will try him out a little longer. We are quite happy here in our new home and environment, but let us not pretend that any of us know what the future will bring.
Merry Christmas everyone!
Thursday, November 3, 2011
While the nausea is away, the pregnant woman will play.
October has shined good health upon our family and we have celebrated by playing.
We finally checked out the canals in Venice. I have been wanting to see these for years, but with the never-ending list of things to do in Los Angeles, we finally made it there. We were very impressed with the beautiful homes, clear water, quaint boats, and cute duckies. It was such a serene and peaceful area, until we arrived, of course, with our two rambunctious boys running over bridges and chasing ducks and geese.
The next weekend we headed to Vegas to spend time with my parents and see best friends. My parents completely spoiled us by taking us out for dinner for Mark's birthday, babysitting for us to go to the temple, letting us host a barbecue at their home with our friends, and taking us to the pumpkin patch.
Russell could not be more in love with Grandma. She put him to sleep every night and for every nap.
Russ loved hugging the rabbits
The following weekend we were visited by Britt, Aaron and their adorable kids. We spent the morning showing them the canals, and all the crazy sights Venice Beach has to offer.
checking out some street performers
The kids were most impressed with this pipe. They could have played on it all day.
We then headed to Malibu Creek for a night of camping. It was great fun.
Here are the kids enjoying Mark's birthday cupcakes.
Early morning in the tent
We also finally made it to Leo Carillo, another spot we have been meaning to visit for years. I was as excited as could be to check out the tide pools and show them to the boys.
We saw and touched many anemones, sea stars and crabs.
Russ thought touching the anemones was so "tickly".
Lukey loved touching everything as well.
Mark
Bekah copying Mark
This last weekend we were visited by my parents who needed a good Southern California vacation. We spent most of the day Friday at the Arboretum and Botanic Gardens. They were amazingly beautiful.
Grandma and Grandpa surprised the boys with headlamps. What an exciting gift. Russell did not take his off all day.
Lukey has a special place in his heart for his "Papa". He must have said his name a thousand times over the weekend. This is them laughing in each other's faces.
Of course the kids could not resist chasing the ducks, geese and peacocks all over the gardens.
We also spent a day with them in Solvang- a Danish tourist town near Santa Barbara- and at night we left the kids at home with a sitter and went to the Griffith Park Observatory. We walked around the beautiful grounds, checked out the city views and stars, looked through a telescope at Jupiter, and watched a fascinating show in the planetarium.
One Saturday afternoon when we were all feeling incredibly lazy Mark forced us to get our bootys to the store, buy some ingredients, and have a Halloween party. I was tired and less than enthusiastic at first, but we ended up having a great time, and I was glad he pushed it.
We made eyeballs, bones, a witches house and carved Russell's pumpkin.
A plate of our edible eyeballs
bones, Russell's pumpkin. He insisted that his pumpkin have a "spooky" face.
Mark and I had never heard him use the word before, so we thought it was pretty cute.
Russell wanted to be a pirate for Halloween, and was at our church party, but on Halloween day he insisted on trick-or-treating in his Woody costume. It was only fitting to then dress Lukey up as Buzz. They were such a cute pair.
Russell and Luke thought trick-or-treat was the most exciting thing that had ever happened to them.
Mark and I were pretty pumped about it too. Plus our kids are satisfied with the 'one candy a day rule' which leaves lots of candy for us when they are not looking.
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