Goals

This year I feel like I'm ready to take on some of the things that have been on my to-do list for several years. Only this year I feel like I'm actually equipped to take them on. The following are goals that I want to work on this year.

1. Eat healthier (eat less fried stuff, more veggies, and less meat).
2. Exercise!! (Walk, do yoga, ride bikes, DO SOMETHING!)
3. FINISH SCHOOL!!!!!
4. Give this blog more personality.
5. Get our finances healthier. Spend less, save more. Track where the money goes.

I'm hopeful. I'm optimistic. I'm ready for some changes.

I have a two-year-old.

I know there are much more parent-ally terrifying phrases to say, but until I have to say something like "I have an eight-year-old" or (even worse) "I have a teenager," I'm going to say that's one of the scariest (or maybe exhilarating?) phrases I have uttered in a really long time.

At his 2 year appointment, Matthew shocked us all by bounding from 5th percentile in weight and height to 18th and 8th respectively. His head is in the 25th percentile, which makes complete sense because it has to house an impressive brain like his father's.

The older he gets, the more his ways of thinking and doing things become evidently more like Krys. He's an extremely methodical toddler. He has certain ways of doing things and he has very well thought out plans. I can't wait to see if he's at good at math as I think he'll be.

Matthew has very impressive verbal skills. He really knows his way around a sentence. He says thinks like "Wheres cool buss?" (where's the school bus) and "Yook! COOOL BUSS" (Look mother! I have located the school bus!). He doesn't sign as much as he used to, but that's partially because we don't need him to anymore. His elocution is pretty darn good for a little guy and we can mostly get the drift of what he's saying to us.

His gross and fine motor skills are fantastic. He climbs, can open some doors, jumps, twirls, runs and turns on a dime, and colors like a maniac.

Matthew, as he has always been, perfectly himself.

Matt's 15 Months Old

He's is really getting serious about this growing thing! He had a growth spurt since 12 months! At the pediatrician appointment last Friday he weighed in at 20lbs 10oz and they recorded his height at 29 inches. He's in the 5th percentile for weight and height and the 10th for head circumference. (Wonder who he gets that from! LOL) He's now tall enough to reach the 3rd shelf (where we keep the fruit snacks) and he can pull himself up onto the couch.

Matthew is very aware of himself now and loves to "help" whenever he can. Why, just the other day he helped Gramma with her newspaper!

Matthew is getting to be very communicative. He can sign "cookie," "more," "please," "plane" (he signs that one whenever he hears one of the jets fly by from the airforce base near our house), "all done," and "cheese" on a regular basis. He knows a few more, but doesn't use them often. He's getting much better at his verbal skills as well. One of his favorite things to do is tell my brother Jeff "BOP."

And because I can't think of anything else to say right now, please enjoy some pictures. :)

How we ended up nursing at the Zoo

I don't often share publicly breatfeeding stories. Although I am strongly in favor of nursing, I try not to be as loudly outspoken as I would like to be because I know there are many people in my family who are made uncomfortable by even the mention of nursing.

Despite this, I would like to share one of the many moments that has made me grateful that Matty and I have been able to establish a successful nursing relationship.

A weekend or so ago, we went to Hogle Zoo with Krys' sister, her husband, their two children, and Krys' sister-in-law. It was a lovely outing and we all had a great time. (Well, except for maybe Kaedin who is too little to get anything out of a trip to the Zoo.) We saw the elephants, the zebras, penguins, and the monkeys.

Matt had just been really getting the hang of walking and was still working on how to fall down without hurting himself. This is particularly difficult when you're below everyone else's line of sight. So when Krys' sister-in-law accidentally bumped into Matty, it sent him sprawling.

Matty got a pretty good bump on his little noggin and he started crying inconsolably. A cuddle from his auntie, daddy, or mommy just weren't enough. But, as soon as I pulled him into my lap and offered him a nurse all was well again. He held my arm tight and after just a few moments was calm and his crying had receded into sniffles.

Thank goodness for short memories, fast healing, and a nursey.

Matt's One Year Appointment

We saw Matt's pediatrician on Monday and everything went great, just as usual.

Matt is 27 inches tall, weighs 18 pounds 9 oz, and his head is 44 cm (or 17.3 inches) around. He come in at about the 5th percentile. Still a little guy for his age, but he's growing. And, as our pedi put it, he's certainly well fed.

Poor Matty had to have vaccines on Monday as well. He got all of the usual 12-month shots except for varicella aka Chicken Pox.

Matt is on the verge of walking (he's at the point where we know he could if he wanted to), claps, does some hand actions with certain songs. (Twinkle, Twinkle and If You're Happy and You Know It are two of his favorites.) Matt also know a couple of signs (all done and more are the two most common for him to do).

These are a few of Matthew's Favorite Things

Happy Birthday, Little One!

Favorite Food: Ice Cream

Favorite Toy: Nesting Cups (and a handful of kix)

Favorite place to sleep: Mom and Dad's bed

Favorite movie: Classical Baby, the Dance Show (see clip below)

Favorite Song to Sing: If You're Happy and You Know It

Favorite Thing to Do: Crawl up the stairs, play in walker

Favorite TV Show: Yo Gabba Gabba!

Ohh..... SOMEBODY HAD A BIRTHDAY!

My little Matty, dear!

In honor of the occasion, allow me to present a picture/video montage.

A Year in the Life of Matthew William

Another month, another post

Matt's 9 months old. Isn't that crazy? How did he get so big?

We went to the pediatrician today. He's 17 lbs and 1 oz and 26 inches tall. He's in about the 6th percentile for his age. He's a very healthy and happy little guy and we're so glad he's our's.

Matt now:

• Has two teeth (and is working on more)
• Crawls
• Pulls up to stand
• Claps his hands
• Drinks from a straw
• Steals stuff from other kids at Church.

What's that? You need me to elaborate on that last one? Well, if you say so.

At Church on Sunday, Matt was being very wiggly in Sacrament Meeting, so we went into the hall to get some energy out. As usual, there were other mommies and daddies with their child/children out, too. Matt was happily crawling about when Austin and Austin's Daddy came out. Austin is about a year old and in about the 90th percentile for his age. (He's A LOT bigger than Matt is.) Austin's Daddy set Austin on the floor to play. Austin was feeling grumpy and shy so he didn't go anywhere, he just sat. And then Matt came along. Without pausing, Matt crawled right up to Austin and yanked out Austin's bink. That's right. My son is a binky thief. The kicker, Matt already had a bink in his mouth at the time of the larceny. He was just stealing for fun.

Happy Pie Day!

The day before Thanksgiving is almost more important than Thanksgiving to me. It's the day when my mom would make all of her Thanksgiving pies. She'd let us stay up late and have a slice. There's nothing quite like a warm piece of pumpkin pie.

This year, we have so much to be thankful for. I'm grateful for a healthy and thriving son. For surviving childbirth and a car accident. For my husband who works hard to bring home the bacon so that I can be a stay at home mom and who finished his undergraduate degree. I'm thankful for a place to live and food to eat.

Happy Pie Day and Happy Thanksgiving!

And then we got hit by a drunk driver....

Last Thursday (the 13th as it happens), is a day that will live in infamy.

We had spent the evening looking after Krys' nephew. We looked at toys, we talked about animals and what they say (by the way elephants apparently say "neigh," though you'd like to know), and we snuggled. Had a wonderful time. Krys' sister is raising a very cute and well adjusted kid.

We were heading toward I-15 on 45th in Murray. I was in the back seat with Matt because he was fussy and needed to go to sleep. We stopped at a light. The light had just turned green and Krys was watching traffic in front of us. Suddenly, there was a crash.

The drunk driver hit us at an estimated 55 mph. The impact crushed most of the trunk, shattered the back window of the car, and buckled the frame. We'd had a mesh sun shade (like this one) in the rear window and it caught the glass that would have landed on Matthew.

As soon as the cars were stopped, I got Matt unbuckled and got him out of the car. (He was in a Graco Safeseat.) He was screaming and I knew that if he could be calm enough, he needed to nurse. A CNA who had seen the cars and stopped, let me sit in her backseat with Matt. He didn't want to nurse, but he did sit quietly with me while we warmed up.

I was able to watch the goings-on from the CNA's car. The police officers arrived and pretty quickly started giving the drunk driver a field sobriety test. It hadn't occurred to me until then that he might be drunk. He had seemed out of it to me, but I was too concerned about Matt to pay much attention to anyone other than to check that they didn't have major injuries. Sure enough, the kid admitted to having had at least 5 shots in the last hour and later, the officers found a half empty bottle of Jim Bean in the front seat.

As of now: Mostly we seem pretty good. Matt is just fine. Krys has some mid and lower back pain. I have whiplash (no headrests in the back seat) and shoulder pain along with headaches.

We haven't decided on whether or not we're going to pursue litigation.

Picture Post!

Here are some of my favorite pictures of Matthew:





At two months old in his blessing outfit. It was his daddy's outfit and the booties were made by one of the ladies in our ward. (Thanks Lennie!)

My mom holding Matt in the NICU.

Hanging out with Grampa.

MONKEY TOES!



With GreatGrampa Gammon

Was that the wind or Time rushing by?

Matt is officially 6 months old. He seems to know it, too. He does all of the following developmentally appropriate tasks:

Sit up by himself
Babble
Roll over (front to back and back to front)
Reach for things (especially things he shouldn't have)
Scoot himself to things he wants on the floor
Play by himself for short amounts of time
Eat solids

I can also tell that crawling is on the horizon and fast approaching. I've heard parents bewail how quickly the first year passes, but didn't really understand until now. Some days seem to crawl by, but the months are FLYING. There are some weeks when it seems like he's mastering a new skill everyday.

We saw the pediatrician on Friday and he says that Matt looks the picture of health. He weighs in at 15 pounds and 15.5 ounces and is 25 inches tall. His head circumference is 42.5 centimeters. Matt got his 6 month shots. We have him on an alternative vaccine schedule, so he was only supposed to have 3 shots, but we decided to give him a flu shot as well. I think the only person that didn't cry was the nurse. The tetanus shot seemed to bruise him a bit, but we've been rubbing his leg for him and giving him tylenol and that seems to help a lot.

I'll have more later!

Weekend Outings

Krys and I have been doing a lot more family outings now that we have Matthew. The other weekend we went out with Grandpa Jerry and Caroline and I mentioned that we were going to Rock and Ribs at the Gallavan center in SLC. Caroline asked me how we found out about things like that to do. Here's a list of tips for finding fun weekend outings in your area:

1. Pay Attention. Once I started paying attention, I was amazed at how many ads there are on local stations for local attractions. That's how I found out about Rock and Ribs.

2. Watch the News. The news often has segments on things that are happening and will often give tips on when to go and how to get discounts or freebies. News websites like ksl.com will often have a section just for local happenings. Which brings me to number 3.

3. Check Websites for Cities in Your Area. Municipal websites have great information for local attractions and events. Check out the tourism website for cities in your area. More often than not, you'll be surprised by what you can find down the road.

4. Read the Newspaper. In most newspapers, there's a community calendar. It's a good place to find inexpensive and free events.

5. Go to the Library. I go to the library with Matthew really often. I usually find something interesting posted on the community board.

6. Keep it Simple. This is especially true if you have kids. When we took them down to SLC, they enjoyed riding Frontrunner more than just about everything else. Just taking a type of transportation that they weren't used to, made the day that really special.

Here's a list of websites for the Layton/SLC area that I've found useful:

http://gocitykids.parentsconnect.com/region/salt-lake-city-ut-usa
http://www.clearfieldcity.org/
http://www.visitsaltlake.com/visit/activities_main.php
http://www.slweekly.com/

Very Late Post

So, it's been far too long since my last post. Here's a really quick catch-up post:

Guess what! Krys graduated from Magna Cum Laud WSU! He has a fancy diploma (that I framed the other day). It has his name on it and everything. I couldn't be more proud. Matt and I got all dressed up and Krys' parent took us up to see Krys walk with his class. There was a couple who were graduating that had their kids dressed up in purple caps and gowns. I almost handed Matt to Krys as he walked by to accept his degree. I should have, but I decided not to. (Don't know why, still kicking myself for not.) Krys has a new job at GroupLink and is currently in the application process for an internship in New Mexico. (I'll let you know if he gets it.)

Matt is wonderful. He's sooo big now. I was telling Krys earlier today that a lot of the time I forget how small he still is because he's growing so fast and is so much bigger than he was. He's a real thinker (like his Daddy). He spends a lot of time concentrating on how this toy works or how that tag is attached. (Tags are his new hobby.) He weighs over 15 pounds now and I think he's about 25 inches tall. Krys and I love to show him off to anyone that has the patience for it.

I'm being a Stay at Home Mom. There are good and bad days, but all Matt needs to do is smile at me and it melts the bad away. I've been trying to add a little bit of income by doing some online work. I'm also going to try and go back to work for a friend of my dad's really soon. (I just need to get up the gumption to do it.) I've also been doing some volunteer work for the Choral Arts Society of Utah.

So there you are, Our News in a Nutshell.

And Two Months Later....

Matty's still growing, growing! Krys blessed him in Sacrament Meeting on Sunday. It was the most beautiful blessing I've ever heard. Short and sweet (and my Grandpa tells me it's one of the most correct blessings he's heard in years).

Matty had his first shots yesterday afternoon and had a little bit of a hard time with them. He was really grumpy last night and just wanted to nap. So we gave him some tylenol and he slept for a few hours.

He started smiling and babbling to us about two weeks ago and it just keeps getting better and better. He always seems to be so excited about something and so happy to tell us about what he's been up to today or what he dreamed about. (Or at least, I think that's what he's trying to tell me.)

Matthew William's Birth Story

We went in for our 41 week appointment on Monday. We had been trying to go into labor for the past week, hoping to avoid pitocin. I had not progressed since the week before and they hooked me up to the NST to check on Baby. While we were hooked up, I had a few very mild contractions and Baby didn't seem very active. (Looking back, it was at this point that I knew that things were not going to work out the way I had expected and that we were headed toward trouble.) The OB was concerned that the placenta was getting too old the keep up with Baby and decided to send us across the street to the hospital for an Oxytocin Challenge Test. (They administer IV pitocin at a higher level than they would start you at if they were inducing to see how the baby would respond to "real labor.") This was at 5:30.

We called my mom to let her know that we were headed to the hospital for testing and we may not be coming home and to ask her to be prepared to take over our hospital bags.

We got through all the admitting and they finally got us all hooked up and started the pitocin at around 6. Baby perked up on the monitors at around 8 and did really well for the OCT. Krys and I talked it over and decided that since Baby was doing so well on the pitocin and that I was handling the contractions easily that we were going to agree to let the OB induce me since we didn't know how Baby would react to the medication later in the week and that it was a possibility that that he would struggle. They took me off the pitocin and placed cervidil at 10 after the contractions had slowed.

Both Krys’ and my parents came to the hospital to see us and make sure that we were ok. The visits were welcome and comforting. Krys’ dad gave me a blessing and after he left, Krys and I tried to get some sleep.

Krys and I got up around 6 the next morning. We had had a hard time sleeping through the night and wanted a chance to walk around and enjoy some time together before things really got busy. At about 8, our moms arrived, my OB came in to check me (still at a two, but more ripe than I had been) and start the pitocin.

Labor went really, really well. All the practice relaxation really paid off.

I finally convinced Krys to go get some lunch with Juli at 2:00, assuring him that I was doing well with my mom and that it was going to be awhile til baby got there.

At 2:15, my OB came in and checked me. After the internal, he stood up and said "Are you ready to talk about some very serious options?” I answered “Not without Krys.” My mom immediately got on the phone with Krys, told him “Get in here NOW” and hung up.

Doctor Johnson told me that if we didn’t do a c-section immediately, the baby would have very serious risks for mental and physical detriments. Meanwhile, my mom was on the phone calling my dad, grandpa, and older brother to come to the hospital to give me a blessing before surgery.

When Krys arrived (about 5 minutes after my mom had called) the anesthesiologist was there going through the preliminary interview. Juli (who had gone through the same thing with her oldest son) leaned over the bed and held me while I sobbed and Krys finished answering their questions.

At 2:35 I was in the OR being prepped. I’m told that Jake and Grandpa arrived about a half minute after I was wheeled in. My mom begged Dr. Johnson to let them give me a blessing before the surgery, but he told her “no.”

They had me sit on the OR table to place the spinal. I leaned over onto Krys and he held me the best he could while I cried. All the time I kept thinking that it wasn’t happening. It couldn’t be happening. It was all going so fast. I just didn’t want to be there. I asked Krys to talk to me and tell me a story and he started to tell me about our Baby’s birthday. It made me more upset, so Krys quickly changed the subject and started to tell me about his Grandpa Johnson’s missions to the Philippines and being on the water in 40 foot squalls.

At 3:18, Matthew William was born. They untangled him from the cord and he gave us a good strong cry. (He never has liked being naked.) Krys looked over the partition and looked down at me and told me how beautiful our little boy is. I’ll never forget the tone of his voice. They placed Matthew on my belly and had Krys reach over to cut the cord. Matthew peed on me, a lucky sign right after birth.

They then whisked Matthew off to the NICU with Krys. Matthew was in NICU for the first 3 days on oxygen and IV fluids. Krys spent every waking moment with Matthew for the first two days. Every second that he wasn’t with Matthew, Juli was with him. Matthew was never alone in NICU. Matthew had had the cord wrapped around his neck and looped under one shoulder. The reason I wasn't progressing and that Matthew was doing so badly during contractions was that with every contraction, Matthew was unable to descend and the cord was being compressed.

My mom and I had begged the anesthesiologist to let her be in the OR with us. They said no for the procedure, but let come in while I was being repaired. I kept telling her that all I wanted, what I needed were my baby and my husband. My baby and my husband, that was all. They wheeled me back into the Labor and Delivery room for recovery. I kept shaking. I knew from all the reading I had done in preparation that it was normal, but the sensation and my inability to stop made it all the more worse.

My dad had arrived by then and he and Grandpa and Jake gathered around the bed and gave me the blessing I so badly needed. Afterwards, my wonderful nurse, Sheryl talked the NICU nurses to let all of them into NICU to give Matthew a blessing.

When I finally recovered, they wheeled me into NICU on the way to postpartum. It was the first chance that we had to really be together as a family. I looked at Matthew and looked at Krys. We decided on his name there in the NICU.

We have been so blessed. Every time I think of Matty’s birthday, I feeling like crying with gratitude. He’s here at last. Safe and sound. We made it through to the other side. For awhile recovery was so difficult for both of us, but we came out whole. Every day I thank the Good Lord for his mighty blessings.

No Baby Yet

Ok, so it wasn't labor. We had an appointment with our OB on Monday. There has been no progress since last week. We have an NST (None Stress Test) scheduled for Friday and a regular appointment on Monday. If baby boy hasn't arrived on his own by Monday, the doctor wants to schedule and induction. I really, really want to avoid a chemical induction. (The side-effects of the medication are not risks we'd like to entertain unless there is an actual emergency.)

Baby Time?

I think I'm in LABOR! Oh I hope, hope, hope we get to meet this little boy in the next day or so....

Waiting......

We're almost there! This baby could be here any day.

We're ready, Little One! Come and see us!

7 More Weeks to Go!

Baby Boy is almost here! We're counting down the days (46 left today) until our due date.
(See our Pregnancy Ticker at the bottom of our blog.) I'm getting pretty darn round and this little guy I'm carrying around is making it really obvious that he's running out of room in there. (His knees seem to be stuck in my ribs and his little head bumps my pelvis every time he gets the hiccups.) Krys is a fantastic expecting daddy. He helps roll me out of bed every morning and on the bad days helps me get dressed. (He's even needed to help me get my pants on some days.) I don't know Krys feels about it, but I'm ready for this little man to get here, already! Whew!