Ready for Fall and other ramblings

Alright, I think I'm done with the heat for awhile. I'm ready to feel a cool breeze. I'm ready for all the colorful leaves falling to the ground. I'm ready to not start sweating the minute I step out the door! Evenings in the Fall (and the mild winter that we have here) are so pleasant to be sitting outside enjoying the weather and your family. Since we live in the "new house" (Avery's term) we live on a short cul-de-sac with great families and tons of children to play with! I'm so excited to spend the evening sitting on the driveway, watching Avery and Nathan play in the street with all the other kids. It should be a welcome change from staying inside because it is too dang hot outside to do anything that does not involve water! Plus, Fall brings October (my favorite month!), Halloween, Thanksgiving and then Christmas! With the kids being older this year, all of these holidays will have new meaning. We can talk about the meaning of Thanksgiving and Christmas, and really begin creating our own little family traditions. In the "new house" we have a fireplace! Super exciting! When the first cold snap hits (temps lower than 75) and you smell the familiar smell of a fire, you will know it's coming from my house! With that fireplace comes a mantle. I'm so excited to decorate the mantle with Halloween, Thanksgiving, and most of all Christmas decorations!! (Doug thinks I'm crazy...) I'm ready for more pictures like this:


This week I have realized more of the awesome ways God is blessing our family. The new house is a blessing. We have a safe, secure place to raise our family. A place to call home. God has blessed me so abundantly in the area of friends. Friends that we can go crazy with and know won't be judgemental. That will talk about things that are uncomfortable just so they know you better (and maybe to desensitize you a little bit). Friends that are in different places in their lives. Mommy friends that will totally understand when you call and say, "If I hear the phrase, don't want that, one more time I might explode" or just listen when you try to explain the indescribable feelings that go with being a mommy. Friends that you can pick up where you left off during your last get together no matter how long it had been. Incredible friends that are more like family than the family you have. They will tell you how they really feel instead of making it pretty.





And last but not least...A video. This is Avery saying mustache, broke, and singing "This is the Bible". We are working on the BR sound. I hope she isn't in 2-time one day, coloring away and the crayon breaks...

Nuts about Nate!

Things with Avery hadn't really calmed down when I started feeling strange. Again, I took a test to put my mind at ease, and was in shock when there were 2 pink lines staring back at me! Avery was still a baby. How was I going to raise 2 babies, giving each baby the time and attention they deserve?? One word to describe how I felt that day: Panic. This wasn't in my long term plan. It took awhile to sink in and in a few days I was excited. Well, I was worried and excited at the same time. Kent, Sherri, Doug, and I were about to go to Las Vegas in a few days (pregnant was not the way I was expecting to spend my vacation in Las Vegas!) but I wanted to see the Dr before we went. They did an u/s because I had no clue how far along I was. The u/s didn't show the baby. There was a sac but we couldn't see the baby. So, the Dr said 1 of 2 things was happening: 1) I was pregnant but it was too early to see the baby or 2) It wasn't a real pregnancy. Meaning my body thought I was pregnant but there wasn't a baby. I was to come back in 2 weeks for another u/s. If at that point we couldn't see the baby, I would have to have a D&C. Wow, what a way to start a vacation! We went to Vegas anyway(somewhat against the Dr's orders) and had a blast! I was constantly back and forth. I'm definitely pregnant, maybe I'm not. I was starting to feel sick and tired all day. 2 weeks later we went back to the Dr and there was Nate. It was a huge relief! Seeing that I can't have easy pregnancies, I began throwing up 3 times a day, without fail.

Since I had a c-section with Avery, the Dr thought it was best if I had a c-section with Nathan too. We set the date for August 28, 2008. The entire time I was pregnant with Nathan I worried about raising 2 babies at once. My main fear, though, was about putting them to sleep. While I was pregnant, we were still rocking Ave to sleep every time (1st child, clearly!). How in the world was I going to rock Nathan to sleep if Avery was awake? Or vice-versa? Doug is gone for 24 hours at a time so if he was at work, what was I going to do?

August 28th came and I checked into the hospital. Nathan was born at 7:20 weighing 9lbs 2oz and 21 inches long. A big baby! I got to hold him for a second then they took him away to get him cleaned up. While I was in recovery, the Dr came in and said Nate had been admitted to the NICU. He wasn't breathing right. A baby shouldn't be breathing as fast as he was. They ran some tests and found fluid in his lungs (transient tachypnea). There was also a problem with his blood sugar and a mild infection. When I was being moved from recovery to my room, they wheeled me into the NICU so I could see Nate. All I could see was his foot and all the wires that were attached to him. It was awful. After a c-section you can't walk for awhile so while everyone else could go look at Nate every 3 hours, I had to stay in bed. Doug would go and video tape Nathan during visitation and bring the video back so I could watch. During one video, Nathan just cried the whole time. Since he had a breathing problem, we couldn't pick him up as it might raise his heart rate and cause more problems. I cannot describe the feelings I was having. Watching Nate cry all alone in this warmer with a tube down his throat into his belly, a tiny oxygen cannula in his nose, an IV in his arm and gobs of wires attached to his chest was seriously the hardest thing I had ever experienced. Finally, I was able to go-via wheelchair- into the NICU to see Nathan. I held him and just cried and cried. We were only allowed to visit every 3 hrs. On Saturday, he was stable enough for me to nurse him. He nursed like a champ!

The stay at the hospital was full of ups and downs. We would come into the NICU and he was doing better, no IV and no oxygen. Next time, the IV was back. It was a roller coaster. Nathan was released from the NICU on Sunday afternoon. It was such a joy to have him in my room and be able to hold him anytime we wanted! We were given the green light for check-out Monday. Everything was packed and we were anxiously waiting for the Drs to check him over one more time, when the nurse came in. She said she was listening to his heart and heard a murmur. They had checked him back into the NICU and scheduled a ECG. They were calling a pediatric heart surgery team to see if they had any openings in their schedule, if needed. Again, my world stopped. It felt like he had been in my arms and they had snatched him away. After a few more hours we were able to go and watch the ECG. They did find a sizable hole in his heart. Conversations with the pediatric cardiologist and the NICU dr did not sound good. Doug and I were sent back to our room to wait and see what they Drs decided. I don't think I have ever prayed as hard as I did that day. Around 5pm, the nurse came in and said we could go! Just like that! I had to bring Nathan back in a few days for the NICU dr to listen to his heart and check his lungs, but if I promised to do that, we were free! A few days later, the Dr listened to his heart and said he didn't hear anything! What a miracle! Since then, we haven't had any report of a heart murmur, praise God!

Nathan is God's lesson to me about trusting Him. Things were rough with a 14 month old and a newborn. Avery couldn't walk, so it was hard for me to get out of the house without help. During that time in my life, I had to constantly remember (and be reminded!) that God wouldn't give me more than I could handle. About a month into Nathan's life, we realized he would go to sleep on his own! He didn't like to be rocked! Avery was, by then, going to sleep on her own. I didn't even need to worry about that, God took care of it! Today Nate is a pretty easy going little guy. He is learning to make faces at us and make us laugh. He has a temper!! Doug and I are trying to figure out how to deal with that. Boys are lots of fun. I'm so glad that God has His own plan because I know it is the best plan for me and my family!

All about Avery!

I wanted to blog about each of my kids' birth stories so I don't forget!

Avery was a surprise! I don't think I had ever been so excited about anything in my life. Doug and I had only been married 7 months! I hadn't been feeling good and was starting to suspect that something might be going on. It wasn't normal for the smell of coffee to make me gag! When I told Doug about how I was feeling, he said," Ha! I bet you're pregnant!". We laughed it off and, just to be safe, I went to buy a test. It would put my mind at rest, I reasoned. I took the test at Nicole's house and Much to my surprise, it was very faintly positive! So, I took another one. After getting the same result and having an anxiety attack on Nicole's bed. I made an appointment with the doctor. The day before my appointment, I started bleeding. A lot. We went to the Doctor and he did an ultrasound, finding 2 sacs instead of one. One was empty and one had a baby inside. The Dr said that I had been carrying twins and the bleeding was a result of me losing the other baby. I was only about 9 weeks along. I don't think I can describe the feelings I had. Relief that the baby was ok, some sadness that I had lost the other baby, but having never known I had 2 babies and finding out I had lost one was confusing. I think I was mostly relieved that I was still pregnant. I had extreme all day sickness. Doug bought me a little pink bucket to carry around. I used that bucket a lot! I craved mustard, and I would put it on saltine crackers. I also craved cantaloupe. Sometimes, I would eat a whole cantaloupe in one day. I was thirsty all the time and would drink around 4 gallons of water a day.



When it was time for the BIG ultrasound, Doug had just started a new job and didn't feel he could ask for time off. In the end, he surprised me by showing up at the Dr's office and walking into the u/s room. I cried so much when the tech told me it was a girl. Immediately, visions of frilly dresses and everything pink ran through my head! Doug cried a little bit, too. She was beautiful on the screen and everything was perfect.
Avery was due on July 5 but on June 16, I started to feel like something was happening. We went to the hospital and they said everything was fine. That night we went out with some friends and had dessert. I was so uncomfortable. Everything had been getting worse throughout the day. Before we went home, my friend leaned down and said to my belly,"Avery, You need to stay in one more day. You can come out tomorrow night after the shower" (My church baby shower was the next night after Sunday pm church). Well, Avery showed her! That night was terrible. I called the Dr. who told me to go back to the hospital. When they admitted me (around 8am) and took my blood pressure, it was over 200. They checked and saw that my water had broken, then my blood pressure went right back down. It was just stress! They put me on Pitocin and we waited. The contractions got pretty bad so I had an epidural. We waited some more. I was dilated to about a 5 at around 6:45pm. They took my temp and saw that it had spiked to 102. Thinking it meant I was getting an infection and it could spread to the baby, they scheduled an emergency c-section. A few minutes later, I was wheeled into the operating room and Avery was born at 7:07pm. I cried the whole time! She was beautiful and healthy, weighing 7lbs 7oz and 21 inches long.

As a little baby, Avery was challenging! She had colic and acid reflux. But, things leveled out and today she is a healthy 2yr old with a bubbly laugh and an infectious smile. She is very headstrong (she gets that from me!). She constantly tests limits and asks, "what's that?" She loves to play outside. Avery's understanding of sign language amazes me. I can sign to her, a phrase that I am sure she will not understand, and she will either sign back or go and do what I asked her! Avery is God's lesson to me about patience. My heart just about bursts when she prays aloud and I love to hear her sing (she has a beautiful voice!). She is a wonderful big sister and I am amazed at how loving she is to her family. She comes up behind me and scratches my back then gives me a kiss on the ear, just because she felt like it. When Nathan starts to fuss, she brings him a toy or loves on his head. She loves to wrestle with her Daddy (and can get pretty rough!). I can hardly wait to see what is in store for her life! She will surely meet whatever it is head-on!

Praying for Tyla

One of our family friend's daughter is having surgery today to repair a clef palate. If you will, say a quick prayer for Tyla and the Jimenez family as they go through this.

God is always in control :) Isn't that great?!

Starting off

Well, I decided to start a blog to help me remember the crazy, funny, irritating, and precious things that my children do! I will leave you with these 2 recent pictures:

Avery ready for cake at her birthday party;

Nathan enjoying some time at the Splashpad.

That's it for tonight!