The Story- Micah's Day!

It all still feels so surreal. The day we have waited for was finally here. I don't know as if I absolutely believed it would be this early, but hey, I'll take what I get. Thursday morning I started having contractions. But I didn't put much stock into that fact. I had already had a previous trip to the hospital with contractions that quit as soon as they put me in the triage room. Yeah, got sent home that time! So I thought, here we go again. I was so determined that I wasn't going to go to the hospital if I was just having contractions. I was determined that my water would break this time before getting to the hospital! So I went about my day as usual.
My morning: I went to the store, dropped off my wedding ring for cleaning, and then took a nap. By the time I got home from the store I was wiped. And I knew the time was getting closer. Contractions were starting to hurt more and I just had this overall icky feeling.
My afternoon: John was supposed to drop off his ring for cleaning and pick mine up. He didn't. Contractions were closer together, but I still didn't think it would be such a big deal. I still thought I was having a repeat of what we went through last weekend. I did not want to be sent home again. So when John went to school, I thought we still had lots of time.
3:00 rolls around and I am waiting for the kids to get out of school. It was my turn to pick up the carpool kids. At this point I was unsure of how much longer we had because contractions were not letting up. I found myself unable or unwilling to move. Luckily I didn't have to get out of the car to help any of the kids! I got the kids home, stopped at home to get Amber's booster seat (yeah, didn't have it earlier when I picked her up), and then drove to the jewelry store to pick up my newly cleaned and spruced up wedding ring! Ugh, I felt horrible. I told Amber I wasn't feeling well and she needed to help me out. I found myself approaching a red light when contraction hit. I was lucky to get the car stopped. But I made it home. That was about 4:00 p.m.
I got inside and I knew it wasn't going to be much longer but I hoped I could wait until John got out of class at 8 p.m. Yeah, he was at least 1/2 hour away at this point. My worst fear was being realized. John would be at school and it would take too long for him to get home. I sent him a text message that he needed to get home right away. And then everything just happened in a blur.

So John took an hour and a half to get home after I told him he needed to get home. While I was waiting for him, Amber was so helpful. She helped me get a bag packed for the kids since they needed to go to my dad's house for the night! Ummm, that was on my list of things to get done this week. I just hadn't had the time or the real desire to pack a bag. I knew if I packed my kids bag, it would be unpacked real quick when we ran out of clothes for the kids! So Amber was packing the bag and not complaining. Then she gave me a hug and said "I hope you feel better soon, mommy." What a melt my heart moment.

When John got home I told him to take the kids and then come back for me. I really didn't want to be in the car that long. Okay, my dad really only lives down the street from me, so it wasn't a big deal. I was so mad that I let him go to school that afternoon! All I could think about was, this baby is going to come in the car if we don't get there now! And of course, we were in rush hour traffic on Bangerter Highway. The hospital is only 15 minutes away in light traffic. Yeah, it took us half an hour to get there. I could barely get inside, the pain was so awful. Side note: I am a wimp. Pain and me do not mix. I stopped in the hallway and practically yelled at John to just go check me in. I could not move. I did not want to move. The nurses took one look at me and skipped triage altogether. We went right to the delivery room.
Epidural? Oh my yes. I wanted to be brave, but I couldn't. I needed that pain relief to get through this. Plus, I thought it would be a few hours still. An immediate epidural eased the pain and helped me relax a bit. Yay for pain meds. Did I mention that I am a wimp when it comes to pain?
I was admitted at 7 p.m. At 8:04 I delivered a healthy baby boy! He was 8 lbs. 1 oz. and 19 1/2 inches long.
It is still surreal, even after 4 days! We are so happy to have our little boy here.

Another side note here: I haven't figured out the camera yet so I have pictures, but haven't put them on the computer. Hopefully soon. But it really isn't my top priority right now. We'll see how the week goes. Or maybe the next, or the next.

It's about time!

It is about time I add a new post here. I've had a crazy busy month. Top that off with low energy levels and it isn't a good combination most of the time.
However, here's a recap of the busy, busy month!

My birthday was earlier this month! I am prevented from divulging my age for fear of retribution! (Not really, but it sounded good, right?) I spent the morning of my birthday helping out in Emma's preschool class. It was actually quite enjoyable. I planned it that way because it was a short day. Two hours was much easier than three. Besides, it was the last day I needed to fulfill my co-op obligation! Wahoo, I am done! So my husband called the teachers and told them it was my birthday! During circle time the birthday bear sang to me! It was too funny!

That afternoon I spent at the doctor's office with Emma. We got home from preschool and she was so lethargic and not acting like herself. During preschool she hadn't wanted to eat any popcorn. Hmmm, that was unusual. She loves popcorn. I was concerned. I took her in. Um yeah, so Emma had strep. That meant I couldn't make anything real yummy for dinner cause she wouldn't eat it and I didn't want to make her feel bad.

The next day yielded a total meltdown. You see, I usually get angry instead of crying. I hate to cry. It is much easier for me to get mad and then move on. In a few minutes I will be fine! So it was too much. I had a meltdown. I admit, I cried. I told John to go away. I just wanted to be alone. But then I went to see a movie with my cousin. Ahhhh, late night movies. Gotta love them. I was afraid I would fall asleep, but I didn't!

Then the next day I had fun getting pedicures, lunch, and icecream with my sister in law and my cousin. What a sweet balm for my soul. John stayed home with the kids and just let me be gone for however long it took to have fun! Fun, fun, fun. I had the most amazing day.

That next week I was out of town one day for work. Then last week I was out of town for three days for a conference. I wasn't too sad about leaving last week. I went to sunny St. George. Despite being away from my family, I had a good time. I was able to stay with my friend's daughter so I didn't have to pay for a hotel! The best way to go I say. I had such an amazing time with her. Plus she fed me dinner on Friday night! I am grateful she was willing to let me stay with her and her family. I drove home Saturday afternoon with my friend. We had such a good time together. I am grateful for the opportunity we had to get to talk more!

Oh, I almost forgot the dinner I had with Shirley. We haven't seen each other for quite awhile. Unfortunately, part of that is my fault. I bailed on her a few months ago. I had a period where everything seemed hopeless, and I just didn't go out with people. I knew I couldn't keep up an act at that time. I could try to pretend everything was well, but there were already too many cracks. But things are changing here on the home front and I feel much better! I am so grateful for those people who haven't allowed me to give up. Well, dinner and conversation was wonderful. It has been so good to be able to have time with people out of the house!

In a nutshell that has been my month. Craziness reigns still and it won't slow down anytime soon. But life is good right now!

It's nice!

Earlier this morning I took Timothy outside with me to put something in the mailbox. It is such a beautiful day. When I got inside I was telling John that is very nice outside today. Timothy looked at John and said "nice, nice." Then he proceeded to pull down his pants. I guess he relates a nice day outside to not wearing pants! I was laughing too hard to get mad at him.

Friend Party

Amber has wanted a friend party for a long time. So we decided that a Friday after school would be a splendid time. Fridays aren't as busy as Saturdays for us. So we handed out invitations on Monday and told everyone to meet us at Chuck E. Cheese's. I admit I stole the idea from my friend Jaime. Although I'm not cool enough to decorate our cupcakes all fun!
Amber invited 7 friends. She picked the friends she wanted to invite. We had coupons for 100 tokens for pretty cheap. Her friends all came, she opened presents, and then I distributed tokens. The kids played the games and played in the play area! It was great. I had no set up, and no clean up. I didn't have to worry about my carpet getting messed up with cupcake crumbs! After playing for awhile, we gathered all the kids. They all sang Happy Birthday to Amber and then they decorated their own cupcakes. Amber just soaked up all the attention. She was so happy to have a party!
What a wonderful idea, having the party somewhere else! Doing cupcakes and tokens on my own, I didn't have to buy the birthday party package. I'm good! Okay, so really it wasn't my idea, but I'm glad I have friends that have good ideas that I can steal once in a while!

Amber's Birthday

I can't believe Amber is 7 already! Where has the time gone? For the past 2 months she's been asking us how many days until her birthday. Once we got to February, we started making her count the days herself. It was a good exercise in subtraction/addition for her! She needs these opportunities because she certainly doesn't get them in school.
Anyway, this morning I had to run to the store to get treats for her class. She was so excited for me to stop by and drop off the treats. Because they were frozen treats, she got to walk with me to the office to ask the secretary to put them in the freezer. The secretary was so cute. She told Amber she would put the treats in the freezer only if she could eat them all. Amber just got her usual look. It was like, Duh, you're just being silly! You won't really eat them!
After dinner we had a get together with my family. Anybody who wanted to come. We had a family home evening with birthday cake after! Our family home evening was about how everybody is special and we all have something that we are good at! Amber had requested an ice cream cake for her birthday cake! So I made the cake with a chocolate brownie crust and orange cream icecream! It was yummy, but I don't think Amber will ask for another ice cream cake. It was a fun night. Amber opened presents and had fun with everybody there. We missed the few who weren't able to make it for whatever reason!

Date with the kids!

Last week I was out of town for a couple of days. I know it is hard on the kids when I am gone, and it is hard on John too. Getting kids ready for school by himself? Just not easy! Remembering everything they need, well I usually do that! I just hoped Amber practiced her spelling for her test on Friday! Who knows what really happens when I'm away. It was probably party time all day long!
I felt bad that circumstances took me away one day longer than planned. I needed to make it up to my girls. I think Amber has the hardest time, she always feels slighted, like she's getting such a bum deal all the time even if I am home! So I had a plan. I was going to take Amber to see a movie on Saturday. Well, then I thought it would be fun to go on Friday afternoon, but I couldn't find one at a reasonable time. But the University of Utah had a gymnastics meet that night. So I decided I would take her to gymnastics! She was so excited to go somewhere with me. But the allure of gymnastics soon wore off. She got bored and we left about halfway through. I guess I can't expect an almost 7 year old to enjoy the same things I do! On the way home we stopped for ice cream. She was so excited. It was such a treat for her. I'm so glad I had the chance to take her somewhere by herself. I had fun with her.

So, the plan was to take Amber to gymnastics and then take both girls to the movie on Saturday morning. On the way to gymnastics Amber said, "Mom, you can just take Emma to the movie tomorrow because I came with you alone tonight. Then Emma can be with you by herself tomorrow." What a sweet little angel I have. I didn't really expect this attitude to last, as I fully expected her to want to go to the movie in the morning! But I love how thoughtful she was. Just the mere mention of letting Emma go alone on Saturday tugged at my heartstrings!

Saturday morning rolls around and yes, Amber wanted to go to the movie. So I loaded both girls into the car and we went to the theater. I took them to see Princess and the Frog, although Amber had already seen it! They loved being able to do something with me. It has been a long time since I have taken them on a date with mommy.

After the movie we stopped at Carl's Jr. for lunch since it was getting late in the afternoon. One o'clock is late for us, especially for lunch. The girls were hungry and I didn't want to hear them complain the whole way home! So we pulled into the drive through and Amber says, "Wow, mom, this is the second day you've done something nice for me!"

Am I really that mean? Okay, so we really haven't done much together and we haven't been able to eat out a whole lot lately. Financial circumstances have prevented us from splurging on the non necessities. I guess I didn't realize how hard that has been for my kids. They know they miss out on a lot, but I've really tried to do things with them. I know that I need to make a better effort to spend time with them doing things they enjoy.

Since Monday was President's Day the kids had a day off school. So in the morning I took them to South Towne Mall where they have this little dinosaur play place. They loved being able to get out of the house! We were there for quite a while. But the kids started getting tired and it was getting too busy for my liking. When the kids had to wait in a line of about 15 kids just to go down the little slide, that is too many people in a small area! They were starting to trip over everyone! While we were there, Jenna showed up with her kids. What a pleasant surprise. I wasn't really expecting to see anybody I knew as most people had other plans. It was nice to see her for the short while we were there!

Needless to say, we all had a good weekend. The kids were all happy to have had special time with mommy!

I'm telling! & more

Kids say the funniest things. Although this time probably wasn't the best time to laugh, we just couldn't contain ourselves!

Yesterday Amber was flicking water in Emma's face, which was making Emma mad. So John took things into his own hands. He grabbed the spray bottle and started spraying Amber. Of course she didn't like that! It wasn't fair, she never used the spray bottle! But, not being able to pass up this opportunity, I took the spray bottle from John. Staying out of sight I started randomly spraying water into the bathroom. I didn't know if I was getting Amber or Emma. Amid protests, we switched off. Then we let Timothy spray the water. By this time Amber was getting really frustrated, but she didn't know I had joined in on the fun! John got all the blame. Perfect for me. I could still console her at the end, right? Then all of a sudden Amber bursts out with, "Stop dad, I'm telling Heavenly Father!"

We couldn't contain our laughter at that point. It was too funny. We were laughing so hard. And this all came on the tail end of Amber telling us how it everybody at school makes fun of her and how it hurts her feelings. Laughing at her right then probably wasn't the best choice, but she said it with all seriousness and it was just too funny. Sometimes we just have to laugh!


So, here's another funny story. Okay, so it may not be so funny to you, but it makes me laugh. Once I realized what happened, and why Timothy thinks the way he does! I like to tease Timothy and when his tummy is bare, I tell him I see a bare tummy, and then I tickle his tummy! Usually this results in peals of laughter. To make sense of what happened, you have to know that Timothy's favorite book is We're going on a Bear Hunt. We read it over and over. His favorite part is where they find the bear in the cave and then run home! He always says "bear, hunt, me." Yes, he likes those bears.

Confusion time. He doesn't understand the difference between bare and bear. To him, it is all the same thing. So I would say "I see a bare tummy!" and he heard "I see a bear tummy!" One day he said "bear, tummy, me!" Okay, so he thinks he has a bear in his tummy? I can go with this. I can pretend with him. He wants to be like me so instead of a baby he has a bear in his tummy! But wait, that's not what he was saying. It would be wise of me to pay more attention. He started saying he was a bear. Then he would lift up his shirt to bare his tummy. He wanted me to tickle him! Oh, I get it, because I was telling him he had a "bear" tummy he likes to think he's a bear! He growls at me, and wants me to growl back. But what he really wants is for the "bear" to be tickled! I laugh everytime he tells me he's a bear.

Okay, so to everyone else, that probably isn't so funny. But I really do think my kids are amusing. We laugh so much around here, despite those days when I feel I'm at wits end with the kids and nothing seems to go right! I need the laughter to keep me sane. Thank goodness my kids provide the entertainment on a daily basis!