A talking. . .

Motherhood is starting to get fun. . even the 5th time around. I'm not one to love love love the newborn stage. I mean. . .eat. . poop. . . cry. . eat. . .poop. . . cry. . no sleep. . SO NOT MY THING!! When my babies start to interact. . Oh heaven help me. When Lola gets a talking ~ this lady stops everything. She will just go on a talking and a coo~ing for her whole life. Pretty sure someday she will be able to out talk our Jacq. . . and that my friends is a gift!

It's that time again. . .

Piano recital time. . . Too much fun!! I think I get more nervous than he does. . . I mean look at him. . . but not to close. . . you might see the filing in his left tooth. . . :)
That's more like it . . here is my blurry. . dimply boy. Love him.
And again here with one of his best buddies. I'm glad they have each other.
Now the moment you have been waiting for. . . Look for it. . look for it. .
Yes that was "the point". . .Tim has been coaching him for days. I had to cheer because he actually had the nerve to do "the point." I think he was more nervous about "the point" than he was about his actually recital piece. You might notice him looking for his dad towards the end of the video.. . oh dear. . what will I ever do with those two.

I just love watching his hands go wild. Well. . maybe not so wild. . but. . I love it all the same. . .

Proud of you Maxie Boy!

WOWSER!

This family decided to take the plunge and really commit to skiing this year. Oh WOWSER!! We are really loving everything about winter . . we are tracking the forecast and jumping up and down when we see little white flakes of snow fall from the sky. Wed night Alexander, Aunt Lyss and I had date night on the mountain. . .
Nothing says I like to ski like this face. . . .This kid is fearless. He waves at everyone he sees and gets the chair lift a cheering. . . "GO LITTLE GUY!!" He does these little mini jumps down the hill and is always ready to try something new.
The flames on his helmet seem very fitting... he is a spitfire. Sometimes I think it is a race to the chair life. He just may have yelled a time or two for his mom and Aunt Lyss to "GO faster. . remember french fries!!"
There is no time for a lodge break. This kid finds a cozy spot on the hill for his Hot COCO . .because no trip to the mountain is complete with out a hot coco break.
Always. . .always a good time with little friend!

MISSING!!

My cousin, Ryan Barrett and his girlfriend have been reported missing. They were headed to the Sierra Mountains in California on Saturday and were suppose to return on Monday.

Please Please pray for them.

Here’s the press release that’s going out today:

"Ryan Barrett and his girlfriend, Viola Liu left on Saturday, January 16, at 2:00 p.m. to go camping with their three dogs (2 huskies & a lab) in his red 2005 Toyota Tacoma pick up truck (with shell.) They were scheduled to return home on Monday evening, January 18, 2010. We have not heard from them. We need your help. We filed the attached missing persons report on Wednesday, January, 20, 2010 in the early morning with the Fremont police. The problem is Ryan did not tell us where they were going. Ryan told his father, “We think we’ll go to the Sierra Nevada to play in the snow.” We fear they were caught in the storm.

The police need leads. Our families need leads. We need you to broadcast this to your audience as soon as possible in the hope that someone saw them and we can focus our search efforts. KCBS has already run the story, but I need to reach more people and so many people get their news on line.

Ryan is a white 31 year old male, 5′9″, blue eyes, brown hair, and his smile lights up the room.

Viola is a Chinese-American woman, slim, 31 years old female, 5′7″, brown eyes, brown hair with highlights and a quiet beauty. (The photo makes it look like her hair is blondish, it isn’t)

Ryan is familiar with the mountains, very strong and brought a tent, sleeping bags, camping gear, dog food, freeze dried food and water.

We have been looking for them since Monday.

Thank you for your help.

God speed."

Thank you!

Bunny

Every month Alexander and Barrett memorize a little poem complete with actions for their kindergarten class. They have been razzing me about putting a little video of them on our blog. They just love that this blog is all about them. They just might . .maybe just a little take after their momma. :) So here is their January poem. If I am lucky you (my two loyal blogging friends) may watch it once, but I am sure that they will watch it at least 100 times. :)

GOOD*BAD*WORSE!!!

GOOD!!
TO BAD!!
TO WORSE!!!
That mini mom photo shoot ended!!

Lola ~ 3 months

Here is our little wiggle worm. It is nearly impossible to get a good picture of this girl because she is constantly engaged in movement. Besides doing the regular eating. . pooping. . crying. .and not sleeping. . this three month old is one smiley little lady. . is a coo~ing like crazy and is getting love from just about everyone that walks in our door. Some nicknames for our little Lola are. .Lola Bear or like Jacq likes to say, "Curly Bear", Lolap (Seriously Alexander ~ Lolap. . who knows? This is the same kids that calls Disneyland ~ Dingyland) Anyway I thought I would update with a couple pictures so I can get out of the doghouse. :)

*Lola Maire*

*ONE MONTH*

Lola these days. .

These days there is plenty of sleeping. Love her little arms. Just like my other four.
Plenty of eating. . .
And. . .more than enough attention from the "big kids."
"Funny face!" Even Lola is getting the hang of it. Maybe that is her way of saying "HELP ME!!"
We are adjusting to our new addition and loving every minute of adding her to our family.

Happy Halloween

*Halloween in Pictures*

First Bath

I don't know if this shows you how little our Lola is or how big our baby bathtub is. . . either way here is a picture of our Lola's first bath. She didn't like it. . . NOPE. . . not one bit..
I love this one. Yes I am one of those mothers. While my baby cries ~ I snap a picture or two. How cute are her little feet?
She says get me outta here. . .
And so I did. I wish I had a picture of her all cozy warm, but it was a wild morning. You know the kind were I ask myself do I have enough time to shower. . . .ewwww. . did I just write that??? Don't worry I did . . . I showered. I put the big kids in front of Netflix "watch instantly" and hustled through my morning. We were off to the doctors office where we learned that Lola isn't even on the charts. Not on the charts in a bad way. Girlfriend was in the 1%. So we have been visiting the doctors office daily. Who has time for that?? I guess we do. Happy Preterm Baby for us. We still love her and wouldn't trade her for the world, but now we are on a quest to fatten her up.

Lolers!

We are still loving our Lola!! Aww. . .
Big baby yawn. . This is how she is most of the time. . . eyes shut. . sound asleep. .
She has us all wrapped around her finger.

Candy Land Party

When Jacq and I decided on a Candy Land Party for her Birthday I was so excited. Her very first *Friend* Party. She was so excited. And I was so excited. How fun is that? CANDY LAND? I am so over Star Wars. . .Pokemon. . . Spongebob. . .Etc. . . but Candy Land I was all over. And then life happened. I landed in the hospital and was about to cancel the party that never got started. Aunt Lyss said, "No Way!" and came to the rescue. She took all my ideas and turned our house into a 4-year old play land.

The Invites
In the Candy land game there are little stops along the way. So for each stop we . . . "we" meaning I thought of an idea and Alyssa made the station amazing. I documented everything in pictures. So yes this is a VERY VERY long post.

*WELCOME. . .with Candy land colorings. . .
*A peppermint relay for the peppermint forest.
*Gumdrop pass. Guess how many gumdrops. . .
We heard everything from 11 to 61.
And the Birthday Girl happen to be the winner with 41. There were 50 gum drops.
Good thing she is good at sharing. Gum drops for everyone.

*Licorice Forest. Eat the licorice as fast as you can . . . .with . . . with. . .no hands. I loved this one. The kids were seriously so cute.
*Peanut Acres. Who doesn't like a bean bag toss? Super fun! How cute are these bean bags? My mom made them. The more color the better.
I think the kids could have done this station for hours.*Chocolate Swap.
No peeking. Gloppy hid one chocolate for every little friend. mummmmm. . . . .
*Lolipop Lanes.
Can those bowling pins get any cuter? To think those were once Soda bottles.
Another WINNER of a game. The friends could have played all day.
*Snow Flake Lake.
Fruit loop necklaces.
And. . .the Lady that made it all happen. We love you Aunt Lyss.*Candy Castle.
Love this idea. It came from here. Jacq has been eye*ing these cupcakes since June. "I need these cupcakes for my Birthday Party."And my mom whipped these right up. Thanks mom! And the birthday girl loved them.
And so did some friends.
And. . . a crazy brother who made a crazy smiley face.
Present time.
Lastly, we sent our friends home with colorful Candy Land party bags. YAY for fun parties. Awesome Helpers. Super friends. And a big girl turning four.

*4*

Happy Birthday Jacq!

Jacq had a birthday breakfast this year. YAY and loved every minute of it. The night before Tim blew up massive balloons and put them all over Jacq's floor. This was hours of fun and prob by far her favorite gift this year.

Lola meets the Kids.

Are you done with Lola pictures yet?? Well we love this little girl so much. We can't get enough of her. Promise . . .the next post won't be "baby."

With the H1N1 virus swarming the kids were not able to visit Lola and I at the hospital. The hospital said, "No kids under the age of 14." While I totally understand it was still no fun to not see my other babies. Once my baby . .. always my baby. Any way. . . once we arrived home the kids couldn't get enough of Lola. They love this little girl as much as I do. I have four little helpers. Four friends that want to hold her. 8 little hands to give her a pacifier. Eager helpers that want to bring me diapers. If she whimpers, they find me. Every single one of them can't imagine life without her.

The rest of my story

Honestly, I was feeling a little embarrassed that nothing "crazy" had happened during my hospital stay. I was starting to feel as though my emotional melt down landed me in the hospital for no good reason. Until Friday morning at 3am. . . .It happened. . . another "Episode." They always made my heart skip a beat. There was nothing out of the ordinary. This was like every other bleed I had. These "episodes" were becoming very consistent and i could count on one every 4-7 days. As normal as they had become in this pregnancy they still made me uneasy. The nurses hooked "us" up to the monitors. One to track baby's heart beat and one to track contractions. I tried my best to go back to sleep but I was having pretty consistent contractions. A few hours later I could feel another "episode" coming on. How? I don't know. I never had any indication any other time. I called my nurse. Once I sat up in bed it was "episode" after "episode" after "episode." All over the bed. . all over the floor. . all over the bathroom. Looking back I don't know how I should have felt. Embarrassed? Stressed? Worried? For some reason I felt calm and as they put baby back on the monitor I felt comforted as I heard her consistent heart beat. The nurses were all buzzing around me. They were prepping me for surgery. IV this. Call the Dr. Clean that. Is the room prepped? ETC. . I called Tim. The nurses called the Doctor. Who Thankfully happened to be "in house." In no time at all I was prepped for surgery. Tim gave me a blessing. And off we went.The surgery went probably as normal as any cesarean. I felt no pain. Not even the spinal block. Once the surgery started I felt some pulling and tugging. . . and. . and. . then some crying. Yes crying. What a relief. I couldn't stop smiling. Never been so happy in my life to hear a baby cry. My whole body was so happy. And . . I just kept smiling.

The big question?? What was going on in there?? And there were answers. Kind of. Apparently it was a big mess. The placenta had scars from tearing away from the uterine wall. And the doctors saw the new fresh tear. It was definitely a placental abruption. Baby was just fine. . . perfect. . .her water was nice and clear and all of these complications had no ill effects on her or her development. Born at 36 weeks and perfect. We are so grateful that she is here with us and that the stress of this pregnancy is over. When we count our blessing we are sure to count all the friends and family that supported us. . . Thanks you friends.

Lola all cleaned up.

We love having our little Lola Marie HOME!!!

6lbs 1 oz ~ 19 inches

Halloween Craft

My kids loved this Halloween craft. This craft kept them busy for hours. I have a couple Dog/Ghost floating around my hospital room. With a long weekend coming up for my Utah friends . . just thought I would share. Have fun!

My Story

Usually I just post pictures and fluff. I like it that way. Keep things in my life a little private and my very private husband likes it that way. :) Thought I would write a shorter version of "my story." It is still really LONG! But if you have the time and interest. . here it is. . . .

This pregnancy started out as normal as any of my others. Sure I was tired, but what women isn't tired in the first trimester? First appointment (17 weeks) ~ Check. Ultra Sound (20 weeks) ~ Check. My placenta implanted a little low but I was told 90% of placentas move away from the cervix by 32 weeks. I was told no need to worry. We'll do another ultra sound. I thought, "YAY for extra baby pictures!!" It wasn't a week later and I started bleeding. I had "spotted" in early pregnancy before, but nothing like this and we weren't in "early" pregnancy anymore.

Tim and all the kids had piled in the ultra sound room. We saw our baby. We felt her moving. We talked about her and how blessed we were to have a baby coming to our home. She was real in our family. Heck she even had a name, at least her "in the womb name." "GUS" is what we called her.

I went in for an appointment/another ultra sound that day. Heart rate was normal. Baby looked great. Nothing looked out of the ordinary. The doctors told me to go home and take it super easy. From 21-26 weeks. . .I did just that. I did a lot of sitting. Every once in awhile I would push it. . .Instead of sitting on my couch. I would "sit" at the water park. Or "sit" at the park down the street. "Sit" in the backyard and watch the kids play. "Sit" at the beach. I did a lot of "sitting." The best "sitting" this lady could do. I would give me a metal in "sitting."

At 26 weeks I continued to have bleeding and massive blood clots and that is when the hospital visits started. At hospital visit 1 I was given 2 steroid shots to help develop the baby's lungs "just in case." Anything that I considered out of the ordinary for this pregnancy usually landed me in the hospital and when I wasn't there I was on strict bed rest at home. Between my mom and Tim it was STRICT!! They didn't let me get up for anything. At one point the docs diagnosed me with placenta previa. After one hospital stay my doctor told me, "placentas don't have feet and don't walk, but as the uterus stretches there is a chance that the placenta will in fact move away from the cervix. Week after week I held on to the hope that my placenta would grow feet and move and my world would return to somewhat normal. I would have even settled for the "sitting" phase. In my mind I just knew that every time I had a major bleed the placenta had moved! It hadn't.

Appointment after appointment it was the same information . . . which in my mind didn't help much. It meant nothing to me. I found too much information on the Internet about a condition I wasn't even sure I had. The Doctors recommended bed rest. . and. .we hope we don't see you back in the hospital again . . . etc. . . Never any real answers. And honestly I just don't think they had the answers. At 31 weeks I had hospital stay 2, I was given morphine pills to stop contractions. Which thank goodness did stop them and eased the bleeding. Physically i felt like I could do anything, but emotionally and mentally this pregnancy had taken its toll. After my 3rd hospital stay (34.5 weeks) and a series of morphine injections (3) to again stop labor. This lady was spent. I was emotionally done.

Two days later I came to the hospital for my weekly ultra sound and bi weekly NST (Non Stress test). As soon as I arrived in labor and delivery I was greeted with warm faces that had become my friends. . . I broke down. I kept thinking. . "what am I doing. . . compose yourself Shauna. . you're not a crier." I don't cry. But with so much going on with my body and so many unanswered questions I was a wreck and apparently I am a crier and just so you know I do cry. I cried and shared my concerns with one of my past nurses and boy did she take action. She had my doctor in my room so fast. They did a full work up. . . and a complete ultra sound were they found that my placenta apparently does have feet and had moved away from the cervix, but still no real answers to why all the bleeding and clotting. The next day I woke up with more extreme bleeding and clots. We decided to go in to the hospital yet again. And that brings us to where we are today. . .

Two of my six doctors said. . if they had to put their finger on the situation they would say that my placenta keeps tearing away from the uterine wall . . not all the way just enough to cause clotting and bleeding. . .that temperamental thing. Thank goodness my body clots really well or we would have prob had a baby long ago or no baby at all. The reality is that the doctors really aren't 100% sure what is going on. I just hope and pray every day for a healthy baby and a quick recovery. Is that possible with a c*section? I've had a c*section with the twins and they are brutal, but if that is the safest path to get our baby here I'm on board.

Good news!! My c*section was moved up today to the 20th. Gus and Jacq will share a birthday. I'm sure some day Jacq will not think that is so cool but right now she is so excited for "GIRLS" birthday. :) I love that girl!

The Green Bottle.

I have four of these babies. Jealous? Don't be. These big dogs mark the number of times I have been checked into the hospital for my Gus. Not the number of visits but the number of actual stays. These are my green trophy bottles. This last time the medical staff decided it would be best to keep me here until I deliver. I'm not counting down the days or anything, but I only have 11 days to go. Think of me my friends. . .if you are still out there. . Oct 22nd at noon I am scheduled for a c*section. Never been so excited for a c*section in my life. During recovery I never said that. . . but I will be excited to hold this baby in my arms and get back to living my normal boring little life. And I hope to NEVER collect another green bottle again.