And because it's almost Thanksgiving...

I figured I should at least share our Halloween celebrations. We did still do them! I was discharged Thursday night and we made it home just in time for Justin to turn around and go Trick or Treating with Caleb and Kenzie. Literally. They loved their costumes! Kenzie's was just...easy. I had it on hand. She was so excited about it, though! Oh, she's an elephant. You can't really tell. Caleb was super proud to be a "pookey pider," a.k.a. a "spooky spider."

And our Jack-o-Lanterns. Grandma drew on hers. Kenzie really wanted a "squatty" pumpkin when we bought them, so she just put eyes on hers. Caleb helped me design his and then I carved it (so I didn't actually carve my own...) Justin did the spider in honor of Caleb. And the baby pumpkin (shown only in the glowing picture) is in honor of the baby-to-be, complete with a binky. 

Baby Jacob's Birth Story

So, after spending three different journaling sessions trying to record the details about Jacob's birth, I've decided that I don't want to record all of that in a blog post. It would be too long, and it would seem redundant for me because I've already recorded it. But I do want to give a sense of the gratitude, humility, love, and blessings the memory evokes from me.

Monday October 28, 2013
It all started when I went in for my routine appointment. At this point, I was 39 weeks and 5 days. And I was really jealous of my friend who was due a week before me and had her baby early. And I was terribly uncomfortable. Miserable. Blah! I remember posting on FB a few weeks back that this labor must be going to be a bad one because I was so uncomfortable: that's the only way we accept the difficulty of labor is because we want to be un-pregnant. I totally felt that way! (This is the closest picture I can find. It's from a week before I delivered.)

So I went in. They checked my blood pressure, and it was high. It had been for the past few weeks: 141 and 146 (don't remember the bottom numbers), but both times the nurse had checked me by hand and it had been normal. And she'd even checked my urine for protein once and I was fine. But this time, it was a different nurse, and when she saw 155, (normal is 120, right?) she wanted to check my urine. While she was doing that, my doctor was measuring me and told me, "I think this baby grew a lot this week." haha! I was huge. I don't think I have a great 39 week picture...but I was huge. I gained almost 15 pounds more with this pregnancy than I did with either of my other two. So I wasn't surprised about his comment.

I was surprised when the nurse came back and said there was trace protein in my urine. Didn't really know what that meant. But she looked concerned. Then they checked my progress and I was at a 3. I was hopeful that this baby might still come early. The nurse looked so sympathetic I wasn't sure why. She kept commenting on how swollen my legs were, how she heard my hips pop when they checked my progress...and then she gave me the form that said, "Ticket to ride." I love that game so I tried to be positive about what it meant. She told me to give it to the Labor and Delivery desk. Oh, I'm not going home? She said probably not. Then she gave me a paper that I was to give to the lab.

At this point I started to feel the anxiety that she had already been feeling. Before I made it to the lab, I went into the bathroom to try and get my composure. You know me..I'm emotional. Add pregnancy and it's ten fold. I felt really overwhelmed. I wasn't sure what was happening. Was protein in my urine that bad? Was I really ready to have this baby today? I didn't feel prepared at all. Not physically, emotionally, not for my two other kids or my mom or for Justin. I was worried. Anxious. Only mildly excited.

I went to the lab, called my mom, she had to come get keys to the house from me so she was coming anyway; I didn't call Justin yet because I thought there was a chance I might still be going home. But once the results from the lab came back, I was told I was not going home. That was not an option anymore. Super long story made only long, I was diagnosed with HELLP syndrome. I had never heard of it. A doctor explained it as severe pre-eclampsia. And my only knowledge of that came from Downton Abbey. Sure didn't give me warm fuzzies.

I knew it was serious. I knew it was dangerous. I was still just completely overwhelmed. I could describe the next 5 hours in about the same amount of space as this first hour...but I'll spare the step-by-step details. Basically, they wanted to get the baby out. So they induced me. At this point, Justin was there. I got an epidural, I was on magnesium, they broke my water, I started pushing...and then my sweet baby was born. At 11:24 p.m. on October 28, 2013, Jacob Dell was born weighing 9lbs 4 oz and measuring 20.5 inches. and a full head of hair! Hasn't ceased to be his most striking quality.

I can't describe how emotional I was when he was brought to me for the first time. I felt like I had been handed two miracles, both in me and in him.             This picture captures it for me. Well done, Justin.

All in all, the labor and delivery was pretty smooth. So much could have gone wrong. I was warned of so many possible complications. And even after delivery I wasn't done. Even today I feel like I'm still recovering from parts of that experience, but I'm grateful. It seems fitting this month, right? I'm grateful for my little boy, and for his health. I'm grateful for the doctors that day who did such a phenomenal job. I'm grateful I was working with a high risk doctor even though I didn't need to be. I'm grateful he requested lab work even though there wasn't reason for him to (I wasn't showing any other symptoms). I'm grateful I had an appointment that day so they could check my vitals. I'm grateful my mom was here and she survived the week with my two older children (especially one little girl who knew something was wrong and was not happy to be apart from Mommy) while I stayed in the hospital with Jacob. I'm grateful for my husband who was and is my strength and my support. When my children entered the labor room when I was first admitted and when Justin joined us are marked as extremely emotional times for me because I remember just how much I needed them. Their faces and their love and just THEM.

I'm grateful for prayers and my home teacher and for blessings and for the priesthood. I'm grateful for my nurse Connie who made those first 6 hours bearable. She was like an angel to me during that time. Who came to check on me the next day even though I wasn't assigned to her.

I'm grateful for food and for that first meal I got at 11:24p.m. on October 29. And for the full 30 oz of water I downed. I'm grateful for pain medication and for the nursery which watched my baby since I was shaking so bad I couldn't hold him. I'm grateful for pumpkin hats. And for warm recovery baths. And for skilled lab workers who can get a blood sample without my feeling anything. Ten times over.

You get the idea. There is so much from this delivery experience that I am grateful for. Big things, little things. And in the end, I am home with my family. All 5 of us.

Update Before Baby Comes

Back in August as we drove home from Idaho, we went through Custer State Park in South Dakota. Saw us some great Bison!



Had an unexpected stop at Martin's Cove. No idea it was there! They had great "mini" handcarts for the kids. Wonderful visitor's center, too. Really enjoyed it.

Kenzie loved her glasses.

On our way to Mt. Rushmore there was a beautiful scenic outlook. I'm about 7 1/2 months along here.

Then there was Mt. Rushmore!

We had promised Caleb we'd celebrate his birthday the weekend we were home. So I had about 2 days to get stuff unpacked and make Caleb his birthday cake. I only used leftover fondant from Kenzie's birthday cake...so I didn't have quite enough. Don't look too close. Caleb's first comment was, "Why are it's tires flat??" lol Thanks son. Happy 4 years my wonderful son!

Then September brought Caleb's first day of preschool. He was really excited! Kenzie was too, though she didn't know why.

Towards the end of September we took our first visit to an apple orchard since living in Iowa. Unfortunately, it decided to pour. and our poor pneumonia-recovering family was really cold. Caleb loved it, at least! This pic was before it started pouring.

Aside from these awesome documented pics, we've just been surviving Justin's terrible school schedule, trying to get ready for baby (2 weeks and counting!), and trying to stay healthy, all while having fun! :) It's always an adventure and a delicate balance!

Summer Fun: Indian Cave, Bunk Beds, Hershey Chocolate Factory

One of our events was to visit an Indian Echo Cavern. Like I said, we did too much and had so much fun to write about it all...here are just some recaps. 

We were all there! complete with belly!

Mackenzie and Caleb got to sleep on a bunk bed in our little cabin, which was awesome! They're getting on in August so it was a great trial run. And they loved it! This turtle was a rare find so we had to indulge Mackenzie in her love of the green animal. She took it everywhere!

And then Hershey Chocolate World. The first visit was AWESOME. The second visit needs its own post. Another day. But here are some fun family pics:

Caleb loved cousin A...and hand-holding was a frequent occurrence! 

Three generations of women. Kenzie's face cracks me up here!

As excited as a little boy...

Just some more factory fun. 

That's all the pictures we took. I know my siblings took more, but those have yet to be exchanged. The trip was fantastic and we look forward to seeing more family in the future!

Summer Fun: Independence Day with Family

We didn't take any pictures of camping with Justin's parents...we let them do that. So we'll get those sometime in the future. But after 3 days camping, we drove another hour to arrive at the Hart Family Reunion. There's no way to write everything that happened or was laughed about or enjoyed; it was a great visit! My sister planned and organized it all and it was a huge success! We were able to see everybody from my side, though maybe not all on the same day. In these pictures, Grandma had a fabulously kid-friendly craft for the kiddos to create on the 4th of July. 

Kenzie warmed up to Grandpa...and her cousins. Especially the girl cousins. 

Caleb loved playing with his cousins and couldn't run around with them enough. So sweet to see these relationships form and strengthen as the kids get older!

This is my mom BTW. Pretty lady!

Why PA, you may ask? Nobody in my family lives in PA. We like to pick random places around the country to visit and see who has to drive the longest to get there. We didn't win that competition this year!

Summer Fun: Lake Eerie and Traffic Jam

Our drive to PA for camping with Justin's parents and a family reunion with my side was begun the day Justin was out of class. He only had 2 weeks off this summer and we really wanted to take advantage of it! Our car was loaded, complete with suitcases strapped on top, thankfully covered with a tarp! We were rained on a ton while driving, and once we arrived in pa. 

We started by driving to Ohio and spending the night with family friends. We decided to stop at Lake Eerie, since I had never seen a Great Lake before. It was incredible! If YOU have never seen one, you definitely are missing an experience! It was incredible to see this mass of water stretching out past the horizon. I couldn't see the other side of it!! It had waves and moved like the ocean! But it was a lake! So crazy.

We enjoyed some rock-skipping. 

Caleb has always become very calm and contemplative in nature. It's one reason I love camping as a family. It's good for his little spirit. And mine. 

And Mackenzie just loves being where we are. She liked the geese. 

We continued our comfortably slow driving (we only had 6 hours to go that day) not wanting to arrive in PA before Justin's parents, because they had the tent trailer. How much fun would it be to get to a campground and have to sit in the car? Might as well be on the road and not feel bad about it, right? 

Well, we got more than we bargained for in that regard. Somewhere in PA on I-80 there began a terrible traffic jam. There was either a semi on fire or some other unexplained event, but we moved 10 minutes on our GPS travel time in 5 hours. Literally. We luckily were able to find a gas station and get off in the middle of that. At some point I-80 was evacuated and all of the traffic was forced to travel county roads as we bypassed the mysterious accident. There weren't any signs making sure we went the right way, so we just picked out some friendly truckers and made sure we went the way they went. Of course, we had our GPS, so we weren't worried about getting lost; we just wanted to get back to I-80 ASAP!

Instead of arriving at our campsite at 8:00p.m. we arrived at 1:00a.m. But Justin's parents had only been there for about an hour...so maybe it was good that we were stuck in the car driving. 

Kenzie Birthday pictures

I posted some of these on FB, but for your viewing pleasure (*Elisa*), here they are again with some additional bonuses. 

This is the turtle cake I made for Kenzie. It was my first time using marshmallow fondant, and though I was pleased with the result, the process of making the sticky, gooey stuff was rough. I'm not sure if I'll do it again. But it was really nice to be able to manipulate it and mold it to make a simple turtle cake. 

See, we learned while in St. Louis that Kenzie loves turtles. So I decided to make one. I used a small Pyrex bowl for the shell and then cupcakes for the head and feet. Okay, so it was a lot of fun using fondant, but MAN, first time is always bumpy, right?

When it came time to sing and cut the cake, I asked Kenzie which part she wanted. She didn't respond so I asked Caleb, and he of course said he wanted the head. And I obliged, not even considering what the repercussions from Kenzie might be. And boy where there! She bawled, we reapplied the head; she ate the eyes off. It was hilarious!  

Hopefully that video works. It was funny! 

And for the kitchen. This was something I wanted to do a year ago, so finally in November we found this gem to transform. We figured we had 6 months, we should be fine...

We didn't plan on me being sick for 2 months...or for just crazy school (why did we not plan on THAT?)...so it was crunch time before her birthday. And Justin really did all of the work. I made those little pot holders and the apron, but that was just a fraction of the time and effort Justin put into making it (especially with limited tools, which he hates). 

I personally love how it turned out. The kiddos play with it together and make very creative soups and Kenzie serves me water repeatedly. It's lovely. 

Again, happy birthday to my 2 year old little girl!

Celebration!

What a month!

Mackenzie turned 2 (almost a month ago...wow). Between the kitchen Justin created for her and the turtle cake I decorated for her, it was a fabulously dramatic and memorable birthday celebration.

My little 2 year old loves her animals and gets very sad if they are taken from her. She loves her big brother and tries to copy him in everything he does, even if we've already said not to do it. She MUST do it. She is an independent, lovey, always hungry conversationalist. When we put her to bed, she has as many animals with her as possible. Last night I counted 8, including the bear that is bigger than her and the caterpillar she can ride. And she always insists on a blanket even if it's hot.

She is girl through and through, loving shoes and always wanting to wear Sunday shoes if they are within reach (plus she can do them herself...independent!), and she LOVES bows and dresses and bracelets and babies. Her active loves are for slides and balls and she consistently tries to step up to the bat. She loves water, and was more daring on the slip and slide than Caleb was.

She is such a sweetie and I love that she gets excited by Daddy and baby and life in general. Happy 2 years my little Squirlie Girlie!

I had my birthday...which was fun! Justin and I were able to go see Star Trek and enjoy some cheese cake. It was pretty low key but quite enjoyable!

We had a successful ultrasound where we were able to see our little baby moving around, see all the body parts, hands feet, nose; we saw baby drinking, saw the heart pumping. It was a beautiful, special, emotional experience! And we learned the gender. *drum roll* (and Daddy, if you happen to check my blog, stop reading, NOW). I'll say it in Russian just in case Grandpa does get on her and doesn't stop reading, he'll have to work to find out. The rest of you..sorry, you have to work too. Anyway, the baby is a мальчиk! We are super excited, especially our children. :) We went out to IHOP that night for dinner, told the kiddos what baby was, and then they helped us continue our tradition of selecting and buying a special take-home outfit. It makes it so real! I'm having a baby in October!! I don't think I'll ever be ready...

Our lives are getting crazier (between fitting 3 car seats in our little car, fitting 3 kiddos in the same room, Justin preparing for Super Block, weddings, and crazy primary calling...), but we feel blessed and excited!

Quiet Book

Alright. I just spent an hour updating all my pictures on my computer from my camera...which means I'm really behind in blogging, but I'm not back tracking. We'll just have to get updates form here on out.

Here's a little recap as to why I've been so busy.

Reason #1. This is a quiet book I started when Caleb was 11 months old. I decided to finish it for Christmas. Didn't make that deadline. Worked on it until Valentine's Day, St. Paddy's Day, and then even Easter. But by that point...I decided to just give it to them. It was no longer a surprise. And I still have to put handles on it. But it's MOSTLY finished. It took way too long. I don't recommend making them. At least not one this big. But I'm happy with how it turned out!



It has a missionary theme. I tried to give you an idea of what the pages' interactive potential is.

And reason #2 for being so woefully MIA. We're expecting baby #3 at the end of October! So, I've been in that sick/survival stage. Which is also why this book still doesn't have handles on it.

That's about it! Just had to get this out there. For all to see. And to share our happy news. Stay tuned for when we might share the gender. :)

Caleb's Logic

I love Caleb's reasoning about things. It just cracks me up! His newest thing is to say, "I have an idea!" and then proceed to explain a resolution to all our problems. I'm also inspired by other friends posting about the funny things their kids say. I had to join in!

Like when we were coming home from the gym and he wanted to go to Costco. It was getting late and we needed lunch, plus I had already spent my Costco budget for the month, and I didn't want the temptation of going back in there, so I said, "Not today." He tells me, "I have an idea! How about we go to Costco and eat only the samples?!" I thought about it and then laughed at how perfect it sounded! I also think it's funny that he even remembers that Costco is for samples.

Then one day at lunch he told me he wanted a baby brother for his birthday (not even close to happening, gang! He just likes babies). I told him babies take a long time to make and he said, "Well why don't we all go get started? We can do it during family home evening!" Well, what a brilliant idea! haha

He looked at my red carnations the other day and said," Do flowers have blood? Is that what makes them red?" He's very interested in the body and how everything works, so this was a natural connection for him to make.

He also decided to move Valentine's Day on our magnetic calendar because he wanted it to happen again this month. It's now on the 28th. Double the Love!

Oh to see the world through a child's eyes! It's refreshing and humorous! :)