Shad and the Carseat

He actually does own other pajamas, we apparently really like these ones!

A Quick video

Don't really think I need to say any more . . .

"C" is also for confession . . .

Okay, so the one time ever that it has or will happen I figure it should get some acknowledgment, Dan was right. Yes, you read that correctly, I admit my husband was right. About what you ask? Here is the story; When I first bought our crib Dan was not with me. It was a great once in a lifetime deal and he was working, so i picked it myself. Which, by the way, it is beautiful as you can see. So, I picked it myself and when I got it from my sister's I proudly put it all together so Dan could see it. His immediate reaction was, "That is way too low, he will be climbing out of it at like nine months!" At which point, I busted up laughing and told him babies usually can't even walk at nine months, I am sure they can't climb out of cribs. I felt fairly confident I knew what I was talking about, especially since my nephews and niece never have climbed out of their crib. (my niece is almost two and my sister hasn't even had to lower the crib). Unfortunately, I was wrong, oh so very wrong. I put Shad to bed last night and not too long later heard him giggling quite happily. I checked on the monitor to see what he was doing and saw he was climbing around in his crib, so I figured I better go check on him. What do I walk in to see? Shad standing in his crib with his arms all the way over the side, his head above the rail, leaning on his armpits and kind of hopping in place laughing and having a great time. His music player had the lights on, so he was playing with his shadow and thought it was great. Needless to say, I pulled him out of bed immediately and then proceeded to take the crib apart. Why had I not lowered it already you ask? Oh, I had. I had to actually take the mattress support out of the crib and put the mattress on the floor. Shad thought it was awesome having mom come in and play with him for nearly an hour and a half when he was suppose to be in bed and acted like it was the best night ever just crawling around and climbing up and down on things. He did seem pretty ready for bed close to the end though, fortunately I got the crib back together and finally got him back to bed. I think he might now be stuck for a few more months at least. Thankfully, just recently I had seen the mattress on the floor idea online, I didn't really anticipate needing to use it quite yet. Little bit creepy how Dan picked the exact age Shad would decide to start trying to escape, but I can admit he got it right.

"C" is for climbing

Dan always said he would prefer our children do extreme sports than traditional team sports, and it is looking more and more like that might be the case. Rock climbing might interest Shad, as of this point climbing ANYTHING interests Shad. The list includes but is not limited to: the stools, the kitchen chairs, the bookshelves, the window, the couches, computer desk, the closet doors, the fridge, the bathroom cupboards, his crib (fortunately he is too short to get further than his knees with his arms above him for most of these things) his toys (the ball popper is one of his favorites to knock over and climb on), me, and of course poor Solo. Shad is at the point of obsession. Today he woke up during his nap and started to climb around and then fell asleep and fell over again. This picture of him at the bookshelf was followed by a less flattering one of his eyes closed, not from the flash but because he was so tired he couldn't keep them open. Don't worry though, he was still climbing. Apparently, he inherited his dad's will to never give up. Maybe he will be like his cousin, Zayden, and climbing flag poles by the age of eight. It wouldn't be the only thing they have in common. I am ready to admit my son has some red in his hair. Now if I could just figure out how to keep "C" from being for concussion since I obviously can't completely prevent the climbing we could all relax a little.

If Dogs Could Talk . . .

Generally when pondering this question, I think it would be a great thing if dogs could talk. After all I am a vet tech and it would make our job much easier if the patient could just say, "it's my right thirteenth rib that hurts," or, "I ate three packages of floss last night," or, "I'm not really sick but if I act like I am and refuse to eat then they offer me steak," etc. I also think it would be nice at those times when I am feeling down and my dear sweet dog comes up to snuggle to know what he would say if he could express what his eyes show. (Although it might sound something like, "honestly lady, you think you have it bad, I get ignored all day and find going out to the bathroom super exciting because it means I am not being climbed all over by that wierd little person you brought home or being kicked out of bed. . . .") Or, it might be what his eyes express which would be nice. The reason this all came up though, was because the other night I was horrified to realize just how much the dog really understands. Dan and I were having a casual conversation when a certain three letter word starting with "S" and ending with "x" came up. To our shock Solo jumped off the bed and excitedly headed down the hallway. This may not seem significant to many people, however if you have a dog that is allowed on your bed you probably understand that in order to have privacy sometimes they need to be banished from the room. Now, Dan happens to be a major sucker for those puppy-dog-eyes, which means every time Solo gets locked out he gets some treats or a bone to chew. So, why was the dog so excited at that three letter word? He actually recognized it as his personal treat time. Now, I at first thought there is no way on earth it was intentional, so we tested it a few more times. Each time it was said Solo once again got excited and then finally perturbed that nothing was happening. Sadly, for him no one got lucky that night, and I was grateful that the dog can't talk to tell you all the other things he may or may not understand. Mostly, it was just a little spooky and reminded me not to underestimate how smart he is. After all, he is smart enough to realize that if you come when called that just means your play time ends short, and if the door is open make a break for it, because you may not get time to play later.

Juvenile Diabetes

Almost two years ago my nephew Ashton was diagnosed with type 1 Diabetes. While it is treatable there is still no cure and Ashton checks his blood sugar levels between 8-10 times daily and gets about 5-6 injections daily as well. They have learned to make it just another part of life, but it is certainly something that you have to care for each and every day. In recent weeks other members of our family have been diagnosed as well and just point out how far reaching this disease truly is. Each year my sister's family has done a walk for a cure to help get Ashton involved in a good cause and raise money for research to find a cure. One amazing thing they have learned is that in Ashton's lifetime researchers expect to find a cure for this disease! In hopes to make that as soon as possible I am including this link so if there is anyone who happens to come across this page and wants to donate they can go to his donation page(all money raised goes directly to research to find a cure):http://walk.jdrf.org/walker.cfm?id=87593866

Full update on Shad--and I mean FULL (i.e. extremely long)

Thought everyone might want a little more information on how Shad is doing. He is now just over eight months old and about seventeen pounds. He is wearing six to nine month clothes for the most part although his up to six months onesies still fit best. (I am just guessing, but I don't think he will be a line-backer). As previously mentioned he is on the move now and managed to flop all the way from the bedroom across the master bath and into our closet where he tried to climb onto my road-bike. Wait, road bike in the closet? Yes, it was suppose to be more convenient for the winter so I could ride the trainer inside rather than get it from our detached garage every time I wanted to use it, however I broke my bike Tuesday among other things so . . . i digress. Shad was trying to climb on my bike-perhaps he is aware he has a road-bikers physique as opposed to the line-backer as well, we can only hope. Dan is convinced Shad is going to be the next great American cyclist-watch out Lance! Anyway, Shad is flopping, and proving to be pretty fast, and now I have to pay much closer attention. He also discovered Solo's water dish the other day and thought it was quite interesting until he was all wet on tile on a cold day. On the bright side, maybe he will avoid the water dish now.

He is also on solid food now, although I realize this is much more difficult to do than I had previously imagined. I figured, put food on spoon, put spoon in mouth, baby eats. Any mother knows that is a hilariously naive perspective. So...we are in that trying a gazillion things that he refuses to eat only to then prepare something he will eat and then also give him his cereal and nurse him phase. What a joy. There is a small list of things Shad will eat now, including: applesauce, bananas, some peas, chicken, rice on occasion, cheerios (he is quite into feeding these to himself) some home-made chicken soup our neighbor brought to us, and the only two things he has liked the first time he tried them; refried beans and Mexican rice. Apparently someone has some Spanish blood in them or he has good taste after all. I happen to love refried beans and Mexican rice. Things Shad refuses to eat include broccoli, green beans, mashed potatoes, spinach, zucchini, corn, and peas the first fifty times we tried them. One day it was so bad that after I had tried feeding him three different green things he finally refused to even eat his applesauce from a green spoon. Unfortunately, he still also wants to eat the dish rag every time I wash his face. He is also able to use a sippy cup now, although he prefers to play with it.

Shad continues to wake up very happy which is so great, since his mother is the opposite. At least when I get up with him at a ridiculously late hour in the morning he is very pleasant. He is also becoming very vocal especially when he is happy. He makes the most noise after eating and in the bath. Most of the things he says sound like "die, die, die," "gggrr" "yeh, yeh, yeh," or heavy breathing. All of them come out sounding like he is about to do something terrible to you which makes it all the funnier.

His favorite things to do are flop around -especially on the changing table, have you blow on his face so his hair blows back-he thinks this is just hilarious and makes a very funny face, pull Solo's hair and ears, suck on the washcloth in the bath-especially after wiping it on the side of the actual bathtub instead of the toddler bath he is sitting in-go figure, be tickled, sing songs, and read books-preferably touch and feel books or ones with animals since his mom does all of the noises and then Solo joins in and makes noises for all of them too. How fitting that we dressed up as the circus for Dan's parents Halloween party. Shad was a leopard, I was the ring-master and unfortunately Dan came straight from work and his wife didn't tell him what her plan was so he got stuck being himself as the side-show. It really wasn't a stretch, except the part where I was supposedly running the show.

As you can see we are doing well. Shad continues to be spoiled like crazy at his aunt Myndi's house every Monday and him and Dan still have their Manly Monday afternoons where they get to hang out which I think is a great thing. Unfortunately, Shad has decided he likes to go to bed earlier and is usually in bed before I get home on Monday or Dan gets home Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday. Last night was a pretty typical example, and so when Dan got home he went in, got Shad out of bed and cuddled him in the rocking chair for a little bit just to spend some time with him. Shad of course never knew the difference as he slept through all of it but some day we will have to tell him that even though his daddy missed seeing him before bedtime he still made sure he at least got to hold him. It of course, melts my heart when he does that.

I also like to spy on Dan through the video monitor when he goes in to check on Shad or fix his blanket before we go to sleep. He is quite meticulous about Shad's blanket being just so and likes to give him a kiss or little back rub too. I know it is hard for Dan to be gone so much and he does such an awesome job of trying to spend quality time with us whenever he has the chance. I can't imagine there is any more anybody could possibly want to know following this post so I will rap it up, if anyone has even made it this far.

For your enjoyment . . .

Sew what . . .

Not that anyone is probably very concerned, but it has been a while so I figured I would inform everyone on what I have been up to. If you want to skip to pictures and ignore the post, "just call me Molly," pretty much gets the gist of it. First off, an new skill . . . I actually learned to operate a sewing machine. Amazing what too much time at home and hideous vertical blinds can motivate you to do. To be fair, I made curtains from already existing curtains. . . however I did add two stripes and remove the tabs at the top and make a single long pocket for the curtain rod to go through. Why all of this for some curtains you ask? First off, I detest vertical blinds, however my husband feels they are extremely functional, especially with Solo popping his head through them. So, what do you do when you can't get rid of a problem? You cover it. I had some rather nice looking curtains from when we first got married however, in order to cover the afore mentioned blinds they needed to grow fourteen more inches of length. I also just happened to have a red duvet cover that I knew we would never use again (very pretty but it was an absolute hair magnet which is a massive problem if your dog sleeps with you and has light hair). So, I cut up the duvet cover, cut up the curtains and then kindly asked my neighbor to show me how to put them all together. She was awesome and let me touch her machine (I didn't mention the last time I touched a sewing machine was my mother's and she had to take it to get repaired after I managed to kill it until after she let me use it). She also played with my son the whole time I sewed at her house so I could get them done start to finish in less than a week. Here are the final products hung in the living room . . .

Not too shabby I thought.

In addition to sewing, I have of course been knitting like crazy. Since finishing the dress I have done a pair of wrist-warmers for my sister (who has yet to receive them, SORRY), two children's hats, a pair of booties and mittens for shad and have started my next big project- Aiden's blessing outfit!!! As nervous as I am for it to turn out well, I am of course completely honored to be doing it. Here is Shad decked out in a sweater I knit while I was pregnant (bottom picture) and a couple other knitting pics just for you Jessie!!

In other news, Shad is doing great and is officially mobile although not crawling. He has opted for a flip-kick and flop method that proves to be quite functional although I think he uses WAY more energy than it would require to crawl. Funny enough, in all of my thoughts about kids and dogs I always saw the dogs chasing the kids, but Solo is Shad's greatest motivation to move across the room, and just as he gets close enough to pull on Solo's ears or kick him in the head Solo stands up and walks away so they can start over again. He is also becoming more and more like his mom (read this as saying he sleeps 12 to 13 hours a night when given the chance).

Although his mother, absolutely never wakes up like this . . .

Dan is still busy in school but seems to enjoy it and is reaping the benefits of me expanding my recipe collection on occasion. He miraculously manages somehow to still find time for Shad and I and exercising. I pretty much married Super Man.

Pony Ride

Shad has officially been on his first pony ride. Unlike me, who waited until I started riding lessons at ten, he got to go at just seven months. And this was no boring miniature little pony, he is a half Percheron-half thoroughbred and over seventeen hands tall!! It is a terrible picture, and never-mind the bare feet-I wasn't planning on riding either! I purposefully wore flip-flops and jeans that are uncomfortable to ride in so my friends wouldn't feel like they had to let me ride--but obviously that didn't work. Shad fell asleep and I caved quite easily when Karissa suggested I get Bentley out. He was sooo fun to ride too-great purchase Kris! I put the picture of my dad on freckles so you could truly appreciate the size of Bentley. You have to compare things in the background to really get it. Also, if you are wondering how Shad ended up on the horse if he was asleep . . . he of course woke up very soon after I got on. Thanks again Karissa and hopefully this is the beginning of a love affair for Shad-although I don't think he really cared yet.

Bentley and I in front of the barn . . .

and my dad and Freckles, notice how much lower my dad is sitting.

FINALLY!!!

First off . . .  a little clarification, no I am not depressed and don't need therapy ( I live with a soon-to-be-therapist after all).  Apparently, my last post sounded a bit mellow-dramatic and I received a few concerned phone calls.  I do appreciate the concern, however, I was joking!!  Hopefully I have not become so serious people no longer understand a joke from me.  On another very exciting note, I have finished my forever and ever knitting project and I must say I am thoroughly impressed.  For the benefit of all, but mostly so I can brag, here are a few photos:

Front View:

Close-up:

Back View (notice the button-holes ;o)):

Poor Taste?

I was under the impression infants had taste-buds, and previously it seemed my son had okay taste.  After all, he hated nutramigen (we had to try it to supplement the first couple weeks) and based on smell it should have been headed for the garbage not a baby's tummy.  He also prefers Oatmeal baby cereal to Rice and once again, my sense of smell would agree this is a good choice.   Baby food meats - definitely smell rotten (the first time I opened one I thought it was and opened three cans to find they all smelled that way) and he gagged when the spoon got near.  Alas, I find this may be coincidence though, all natural applesauce was treated almost the same as the rotten pureed turkey.  I thought he would love it and never want cereal again, instead we got the head shake, funny expressions and refusal to eat usually reserved for obviously disgusting supposed-foods.  So, we give up and proceed to a thorough face-washing -after all he is wearing the applesauce--and what does he do as soon as the very soapy dish cloth gets close?  Grab it with both hands, shove it in his mouth and try to digest it with no teeth.  Guess, he doesn't have taste buds yet after all, or at least I hope not.  In other news, Dan is back in school and once again very busy, Shad is sitting on his own (and at the moment making strange noises and giving me the middle finger- he just adores his mommy), and I am finding too much time alone.  I am nearly finished with my most recent knitting project.  I thought this  would be a pretty quick one.  I was wrong, I started this in June and a quick project takes three hours.  Sadly, my sister and her family just moved to California this last week.  We spend eight years living in the same place but in different stages of life (she has stayed home with her kids while I worked full-time) and as soon as I become a mostly-stay-at-home-and very bored-and- just-moved-and don't know anyone in my neighborhood but am a half hour closer to Provo-mom she moves out of state.  I might develop a complex.  After all our closest friends did all flee the continent and now our family is ditching as well.  Dan's brother and his family who are in our neighborhood apparently got the memo too and are moving to Vegas, hmm maybe we need to change something.  Anyway, last but not least we are closer to my brother which has been fun although I would like to wish him a very wonderful birthday but he won't answer his phone.  It's okay, complex not necessary, right?

I promised. . .

That high-pitched squeal is actually a laugh--just like his dads.  J/K ;op

Horrible video I know, but it was really just the laugh I wanted anyway.

Okay, Finally in no particular order . . . . Pictures!!!

I am so lucky to have a very happy baby,  pretty typical expression

The picture below reminds me of a certain Seinfeld episode where Kramer does a photo shoot of George.  Lets hope Shad never thinks this is the way to hit on the girl in the photo store haha!

Shad likes to "skimmer board" in the pool.  He stands on my stomach while I hold his hands and we cruise around.  He seems bored in the picture but he is just a mellow guy.

Please notice all of the toys in this picture, but what has my son decided to play with?  He loves to put the burp cloths over his face and then do his dance moves -video of that to come soon.  Maybe he feels less inhibited if you can't see his face?

This is the "my mom is a wack-o" face, I think I get it regularily.

Already solving a Rubix cube-what a smart baby!

If you really want more send me an e-mail and I will give you a link to every picture we have of him. ;op

The Simple Things

So it has been forever, and although we have had the internet I somehow haven't found the time to properly update this blog.  Part of the problem may have been that every time I looked at my blog I hated the stupid standard header I had and would spend an hour trying to fix it to something I liked only to have Shad wake up from a nap just as I have gotten in way too deep (think- three websites open trying to follow directions on creating my own website so I can then use my own URLs to rewrite the codes in my template and thus have a spectacular header).  Certain friends of mine in Europe (you know who you are)  are to blame for this of course.  They have blogs that would make you wish you were living there life for a while, and they can be very grateful for the time difference as it always happens I am doing this obsessive attempt at improvement when they would be fast asleep.  One of these days I will call for directions from the professionals.  That or just leave you both messages with my password and ask you to just take over this blog altogether, joint effort- think amazing.  Anyway, just as Shad wakes up and I realize this is all insanity I close all the windows lose everything I have done and manage to do nothing but change the background.  When I haven't been wasting way too much precious time doing that, I have been trying to enjoy the simple things.  I will give a few examples of what I mean:

  
1. Taking Shad swimming.

  
2. Watching him "park" his binky next to his face before falling asleep so it is in just the right position to be picked up sans hands as soon as it is needed.

  
3.  Appreciating Shad reminding me to take advantage of every time you are undressed. (this kid loves to move- preferably without clothes)

 
4.  Taking a walk with my big kid (Solo) and the little one.

  
5.  Watching Dan make Shad giggle-video coming soon.

  
6.  Cooking things I shouldn't eat (life is short make dessert first and have pancakes for dinner).

  
7.  Riding my bike.

  
8.  Enjoying the short summer when my husband is home more and we get to spend time as a family.

9. KNITTING KNITTING KNITTING
10. Taking pictures of Shad no one gets to see because I do nothing with them (they are coming I promise!)

--  You get the idea, I have turned into that sappy mostly stay-at-home mom who thinks her baby is the greatest thing to ever happen.  Nevermind that billions and billions of people have learned to roll over and sit up and laugh and can eat rice cereal,  that is what keeps me from blogging.

We Are Still Alive

Forgive me for this very long delay but since moving (I LOVE our new place!) we haven't had the internet so I haven't really had the chance to update.  Confession:  I technically shouldn't be doing it now but opened the laptop to do something for church while Dan was using the desktop and happened to notice that I had internet access, thanks I am sure to one of my neighbors that I am currently stealing from.  Now that we have that out of the way . . . Things are going well for our little family.  Dan is done with school for the summer and it is SO great to have him home more.  The last couple weeks we even had a whole day together on his day off.  Sadly, I am going back to work for one day a week starting Monday and Dan will stay home with Shad since that is his day off and so we won't have a full day together anymore.  However, I remind myself that it is probably best not to get use to it since that doesn't happen during the school year anyway.  Shad is doing really well and continuing to progress and grow. At two and a half months he finally grew into the 0-3 months clothes and out of the newborn ones.   He is smiling like crazy now, and especially loves doing some pretty extreme pelvic thrusts, most especially while undressed (yeah, he is exactly like his dad.)  He is also right on the verge of starting to laugh, and I wear myself out trying to make it actually happen.  Above all though he loves to stand up while you hold his hands.  If you put your hands close to his he grabs on tight and tries to pull himself up, it is pretty funny.  Most of all we are enjoying the nice weather and getting out for walks with Solo etc.  Hope everyone else is having a great summer and I hope to add pictures soon when I am not participating in thievery.

GLORY HALLELUJAH!

For those of you who have been keeping in very close contact with us, you are aware of the great concern little Shad's weight has been.  Those of you unaware, I will fill you in very briefly.  We have been constantly concerned about Shad's  general distaste for food and lack of interest in eating, unfortunately last Friday at his two week check up things got worse.  Over the previous week he actually managed to lose an ounce of weight.  He was then back down to six pounds five ounces the same weight he was when he left the hospital almost two weeks before.  Needless to say, this is precisely what we were afraid of and I was devastated.  The Dr. wanted to send me to a lactation consultant. I kindly informed him that we had already seen one, and five of his colleagues as well and been given different advice by every single one of them.  At this point he informed me all of the advice we had gotten so far was wrong and the lactation consultant would be our fix.  However, the lactation consultant wasn't available over the weekend so he said he would call Monday to figure something out.  This left us to simply manage on our own over the weekend.  I was scared to say the least.  We decided it was time to really start doing everything we could and over the weekend we began supplementing with formula in addition to nursing and supplemental breast milk.  I was at my wits end as far as what else we could do for this little (literally) boy and starting to get frantic.  Fortunately, Dan is much less dramatic and reassured me that we really were doing everything we could.  Sunday Dan and his dad gave Shad a priesthood blessing. It means so much to me that they are both worthy of this great power.  It was pretty amazing to hold him and feel the spirit of God so strongly as they did, and also reassured me that we could handle whatever came next.  Monday we decided rather than wait around to hear back from the Dr.'s office we weren't very impressed with we would schedule an appointment with the Dr.  we planned to use when we move to Saratoga Springs.  We saw him Monday and were pleased to find out our hard work and faith and prayers were making a difference.  Shad gained five ounces over the weekend, but still wasn't back up to his birth weight.  We did some follow-up blood work to be sure the jaundice was cleared up and the Dr.  encouraged us to continue doing what we were and come in today for a weight check.  This is the great news:  HE IS AT SIX POUNDS THIRTEEN OUNCES!!!!!   We finally passed our birth weight and I am so relieved.  We will go in again Monday to make sure that we continue in the same direction, but two weight gains in a row at this point is pretty big news, especially since he is the heaviest he has ever been now.  I realize to many people out there with children with severe disabilities, diseases, illnesses or injuries that this probably seems pretty over the top and I don't mean to make it more dramatic than it is.  However, in my little world it is a pretty big deal and I tend to go to the extreme when it comes to concerns about health so feel free to snicker under your breath.  Just know that as minor as it may be in the grand scheme of things today was a little miracle for me and I am so grateful.

More Pics

Glow Worm Baby

I distinctly remember receiving a Glow Worm for my third birthday, at the time it didn't dawn on me that a toy of a worm whose head lights up was a little creepy and weird.  However, which is stranger, a glow worm or a baby whose body lights up?  You be the judge. . .

This first picture is of him in his bilibed but not on and with the bedroom light on during the day, not too strange . . .

Here we have him with the bilibed turned on but still daylight . . .

The flash was turned to slow on the camera for this one, but still lit him up quite a bit . . .

This is what it looks like without the camera flash . . . .like I said even stranger than a glow worm toy.

Trying to read this whole post might kill you.

Well, it has certainly been a whirlwind of a few days.  I was the last person to expect to go into labor two weeks early.  (no, really, I had three coworkers say they thought I would that day).  However, Shad already has a personality like his dad and decided he was going to do things his own way.  That is how we managed to have such a nice long time to prepare for delivery.  My family history involves very very short labors and I expected to keep it under the four hour mark like they do.  Well, that certainly didn't work out.   I also thought after a long labor we would have a nice calm prepared delivery.  I made sure the Dr. was aware that this baby would be fast and waste no time getting to the hospital.  He assured me to go in immediately if I went into labor and he would be sure to be right there.  Well, he did stop in a few different times and managed to find that I was going to do things a little slower.  We had been stuck at the same place for six hours so we all figured it would be pretty safe for him to go and deliver at another hospital where the baby actually was planning to arrive sometime soon.  In the meantime they started me on a VERY low dose of Pytocin and planned for the Dr to be back in plenty of time.   So much for that plan, as the Dr. actually managed to miss the birth by about ten minutes.  Twenty one hours of labor led up to one magnificent grand finale.  Four pushes and Shad came out with an arm above his head as though to say, " Watch Out World!" I shouldn't have been surprised that I didn't follow the family model as I tend to be pretty different from the women in my family.  I think they got the better deal this time.   Shad showing up so quickly after it all certainly took the nurses by surprise and the delivery room suddenly had way more people in it and quite the commotion.  Unfortunately, because of this Dan and I missed those first few moments where you hold the baby together and get some time to yourselves which I do regret.  Of course, at that point I was just glad it was over because I was losing my resolve.  I suppose when the Dr. mentioned possible C-section and gave the pytocin it was just the push we needed to get this little guy here.  Unfortunately, he is Jaundice and EXTREMELY lethargic.  I didn't hear him actually cry until he was probably 18 hours old, he was that mellow.  This means he also doesn't eat.  He has never woken up to eat on his own.  So, we are going through quite the regime to keep this little guy fed and try to lower his Bilirubin. He has to spend twenty four hours a day on what they call a bili-bed for phototherapy except for when he is eating.  In addtion, Dan previously mentioned my "voluptuous nature", well this pretty much occupies our entire day.  I have a rediculous regime for "milk cow care" involving ice packs, electric pumps, nursing, bottle feeding, heat packs, etc that literally takes an hour even now that we have the hang of it.  My mother who had five children even says she has never seen anything like all of these steps just to feed a baby.  Seeing as we are feeding him every two to two and a half hours that leaves very little time for anything else.  Even when he nurses it takes all my time and concentration as I have to stimulate him with a wet rag on his body, or rubbing him vigorously, or doing some tube feeding at the same time every ten seconds even then to keep him awake long enough to eat.   great news is that it is making a difference and we are not having to completely force feed him anymore.  Thankfully, my mother is staying with us.  Poor Dan and her have packed up half the house to prepare for the move and been left to take care of all the other household duties as well.  They have both been amazing.   In the meantime, thank you to everyone who has called, texted, e-mailed, visited, brought meals, prayed or just had us in your thoughts  and I apologize for not getting back to you if I haven't.  I will add some more pictures soon.  Unfortunately, we have very few pictures of when he actually got here, the delivery room was so chaotic and unprepared (the surgery table and packs weren't even open) of when he actually got here.  Since having him home and doing light therapy we have also not gotten many pictures because Dan can rarely hold him except for burpings etc, and at that point I am in the middle of taking care of the milk cow regime and have no hands available.  In addition, we have no pictures of Shad and me because I am pretty much always topless.  While Dan has been so kind as to take some pictures of this hilarious spectacle we are kind enough to keep from traumatizing the world through bad, scary photos.  Dan has been amazing through it all and handled the anxiety attacks and labor and what not more calmly than I could handle a  back massage at a resort spa.  He is of course an incredible daddy and always willing to do the burping, or diapers or whatever he can.  He even surprised me with flowers and my favorite cookies the other day because he knew I was having a rough day.  My mom has made it possible for me to completely focus on Shad and not leave Dan stranded which of course has made all of the difference.  More pictures to come, but right now a certain little boy needs to woken up to eat!

Shad was born on February 20th at 8:23 pm.  He weighed 6 lbs. and 11 oz. and was 19 inches long.  As mentioned in the last post, the labor was 21 and 1/2 hours and Mikaela did the whole thing natural.  I must say that I was both amazed and impressed with her perseverance.  Since Shad was born things have gone smoothly.  He seems to be doing well but doesn't have much of an appetite.  He is pretty laid back and likes to look around to see what is going on.  We came home from the hospital on Sunday and Mikaela's mom has generously been helping out.  Mikaela and her mother took care of the baby throughout the night.  The biggest challenge so far seems to be convincing him that he needs to eat.  The voluptuous nature of his mother does not make the eating easy but I am sure he will get the hang of things.  Both Mikaela and the baby are doing well and we sincerely appreciate all the support our friends and family have given us!  There are so many people that have done so many nice things it is impossible to even name everyone.  Please know that we appreciate the kindness that has been shown to our little family!  

What a little pimp!

WELCOME TO THE WORLD SHAD!

AFTER 21 AND 1/2 HOURS OF LABOR, SHADRACH THOREAU PHILLIPS MADE IT INTO THE WORLD.  THERE WERE ONLY 15 MINUTES OF PUSHING BECAUSE ONCE THE PUSHING STARTED HE WAS COMMITTED TO GETTING IT OVER WITH.  THE NURSE TRIED TO TELL MK TO STOP PUSHING BUT IT WAS ALL OVER AND THE DOCTOR DIDN'T EVEN MAKE IT INTO THE ROOM.  I WILL POST LATER BUT HERE ARE SOME PICTURES TO KEEP ALL OUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY SATIATED.    

Will the real MK please stand up...

 . . . okay, for those of you who didn't realize that was not me in the last post I am horribly ashamed.  Dan likes to sign in to my accounts sometimes and pretend he is me.  Those of you saved in my e-mail contacts may have received strange forwards from me in the past, this can be attributed to the same thing.  I don't know if this is an outlet for his wish that he was more like me or if he is trying to make a version of me he likes more, either way you should be able to tell the difference.  Less than three weeks to go and I am starting to understand how it feels to just want the pregnancy part over with.  Of course, I  keep reminding myself that then I will be recovering from a traumatic physical experience, getting absolutely no sleep at all, worrying about keeping the baby alive non-stop and have the added pressure of figuring out how to be a dairy cow at the same time.  I try and prepare myself and think that the swollen ankles, acid reflux, inability to breath, and feet living between my ribs are nothing in comparison.  We are trying to get prepared and I have certainly felt the urge to "nest" as they say but we will actually be moving just a few weeks after the baby is born.  This means our house is in a little bit of turmoil at this point.  Empty and packed boxes have taken over while I am preparing for the exciting transition of moving out of our  apartment.  However, it does leave me rather conflicted as I keep wanting to set up a nursery that will not get used until after the move and therefore should be getting packed up instead of set up. In addition, our little boy may experience a little bit of confusion when his new room is set up since it has lavender walls.  I am not complaining though, I would take bright orange walls at this point.  We have been so very blessed by people's generosity though and I am feeling as though we pretty much have all the "stuff" we need, now I just need the skills to use it.  A big huge thanks to Karissa, Jessica, and the rest of the girls at my work who threw a shower this last week and literally bought everything on my registry that the store carried and I didn't have yet. Thanks to everyone who contributed and Tracy, thanks for letting us take over your gorgeous house.  This baby, Dan and I have been so spoiled!   Dan is still working hard in school and trying to get ahead so that he doesn't fall behind when we have our first child, move and he has finals all within two months of each other.  He also continues to work full time, he wants to be Superman when he grows up.  We figure why not make things completely insane, right?  I believe we have settled on a first name, but the middle name hasn't been sorted out and of course there are no guarantees.  Amazing to think people use to have to wait to know the gender after the baby was born, now people are shocked we don't have things monogrammed two and a half weeks before.  Time certainly flys when you are freaked out about the future haha.  Well, we will keep you posted.  If I do as poor of a job of keeping our blog updated this time around as last then the baby will be here already, hopefully that doesn't happen.  

SIX WEEKS AND COUNTING

One week closer to the perennial responsibilities of parenthood.  Things have gone well to this point and now comes the uncertainty of being new parents.  It will be interesting to see how things work out.  I am looking forward to changing the diapers and washing the spit up out of various articles of clothing.  School is going well for Dan.  Work is going well for me.  That's all for now.

SEVEN WEEKS AND COUNTING

WELL, WE ARE IN THE FINAL STRETCH OF PREGNANCY NOW.  I JUST CAN'T WAIT FOR THOSE WEEKLY APPOINTMENTS TO START NEXT WEEK (PLEASE NOTE, THAT WAS SARCASM).  WE STILL HAVEN'T AGREED ON A NAME AND I NEVER DID MANAGE TO SIGN UP FOR A BIRTHING CLASS-REALLY BAD IDEA SINCE I WOULD LIKE TO DO IT NATURALLY--BUT HOPEFULLY THAT ALL WORKS ITSELF OUT.  LIFE HAS A FUNNY WAY OF THROWING YOU TWISTS AND TURNS YOU DON'T EXPECT THOUGH AND SO YOU JUST NEVER KNOW.  I JUST KEEP TRYING TO REMIND MYSELF TO BE PATIENT AND THAT GOD KNOWS BETTER THAN I DO.  DAN IS BACK IN SCHOOL NOW WHICH KEEPS HIM PRETTY BUSY.  UNFORTUNATELY, THE BABY WILL BE COMING IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SEMESTER WHICH I THINK CAUSES HIM A LITTLE EXTRA ANXIETY.  PLENTY OF OTHER PEOPLE HAVE DONE IT THOUGH.  I AM ALSO GUESSING THEY MIGHT BE A LITTLE MORE UNDERSTANDING OF THE SITUATION IN A GRADUATE PROGRAM AT WESTMINSTER THAN THEY WOULD HAVE BEEN AT BYU.  I ACTUALLY REMEMBER THE SYLLABUS OF ALMOST EVERY CLASS MENTIONING THAT A WEDDING OR BABY WAS NOT AN EXCUSE TO MISS CLASS, ASSIGNMENTS, OR TESTS AND WOULD NOT GET SYMPATHY FROM THE TEACHER.  (I FOUND IT TO BE TRUE THE SUMMER I GOT MARRIED TOO, LUCKILY I ALSO GOT PRETTY SICK AND MY ORGANIC CHEMISTRY PROFESSOR TOOK PITY ON ME)  I SUPPOSE THAT IS WHAT HAPPENS THOUGH WHEN HALF OF THE STUDENTS PROBABLY HAS ONE OF THOSE TWO EVENTS HAPPEN PER YEAR.  I MUST SAY I DON'T MISS SCHOOL.  I'VE STARTED TRAINING MY REPLACEMENT AT WORK WHICH IS A LITTLE SURREAL.  IT SEEMS PRETTY WEIRD TO THINK ABOUT IT ALREADY.  HOWEVER, I DO QUITE A BIT OF TECHNICAL COMPUTER WORK TO KEEP UP ON OUR INVENTORY ETC. AND THEY WANT TO BE SURE I DON'T GO INTO LABOR EARLY AND LEAVE THE GIRL STRANDED.  (I KIND OF TOOK THE POSITION IN A FASHION SIMILAR TO THAT AND THE TRANSITION WAS A LITTLE UGLY- I DON'T THINK THEY WANT TO REPEAT IT.)  ASIDE FROM THAT AND CONTINUING TO JUST GET BIGGER NOT MUCH ELSE IS NEW FOR NOW.  IF ANYONE HAS ANY GREAT MIDDLE NAME IDEAS TO GO WITH SHADRACH THOUGH WE WOULD LOVE TO KNOW WHAT THEY ARE!!  

2009 and St. George

Happy New Year!  I know this is incredibly cliche but time flies!  It's already 2009.  This will definitely be a big year for us with the baby on the way.  We have been setting new year resolutions and MK suggested we put naming the baby as one of our goals.  It is somewhat narrowed down to Kingston and Shadrach for the first name.  As many of you know we each have a preference for one of them.  Either way the baby will be a big step for us and so far MK has been an excellent mother.  On a side note, I won't  be surprised if our baby has an insatiable appetite for ice cream due to the large quantities of ice cream consumption that MK has been involved with.  (although this has actually diminished substantially since prior to pregnancy) We just got back from St. George visiting my brother and his wife.  It was difficult to come back to the frigid tundra that is Salt Lake.  I went mountain biking on Friday and it must have been close to 60 degrees.  It is going to be hard to wait for summer.  On Saturday my brother and I climbed a small hill to take pictures of the sunrise.  Unfortunately, there were no good sunrise pictures but I did get some OK pictures of the landscape and cityscape.  MK knitted a whole hat while she talked with my sister-in-law and watched TLC.  Thanks to my brother and his wife for letting us stay there and thanks to my sister and her family for watching our beloved Solo.

This is my brother.  Doesn't he look handsome!