happenings

The cute little baby is now about 6 1/2 weeks old.  It's sad that the little newborn days are gone especially because it was such a whirlwind, but it's nice that he is doing well and he isn't so fragile.  He is still super sweet, he nurses a ton and sleeps a ton, and the other kids love to hold him when I need them to do so.  I took him to the cardiologist for a check up and he passed the check up and since he didn't have any other heart episodes, we don't have to go back.  That has been a huge relief.  He had also gained 2 pounds he was up to 10 lb 11 oz.!!  He is a little chunk, and oh so cute with his chubby cheeks.

That same week, one of my cute little twins jumped off the top of the bunk bed without the pillows and blankets that are normally there to cushion the fall and broke his little foot.  It was very tiny- didn't even show up on the X-ray- the radiologist had to confirm it was broken-- little #7 wouldn't put any pressure on it for a couple days though until I finally held his hand and had him walk on it a little bit-- he is pretty much back to his normal little rambuncious self.

We have had a ton of dental appts. this week.  Everybody had at least one cavity so we will all be glad when those appts. are over.  We will also be starting vision therapy with #4 again and it's time for a new pair of $300 glasses for him.  Staying healthy is not cheap!!!

We are loving all the fresh produce especially the Utah peaches-- they just can't be beat!!  My girls tried out for a choir and show choir.  They made the choir because they both have lovely voices, but they did not make show choir because it is not in their nature to be showy-- I'm sure they can do it later if they work on that and really want to do it.  #1 is loving volleyball-- I'm so glad.  #2 started soccer and did pretty well in her first game.  We'll be doing more school this week and we should have our schedule ready to go strong and hard starting the week after.  It will be busy but fun and good!!

He's here!!

Little #8 is 3 weeks and a couple days old today.  H had a really rough start and we are finally recovering from that and trying to get our lives back together.   The labor and delivery were m hardest ever-- As usual I had to be induced and I was reallyot mentally prepared for the natural birth.  I wasn't worried about anything, but I also wasn't prepared, I think more than anything with our move and all I just didn't have time to think about his new little guy.  Finally tht last week of being pregnant, Memories of the twin pregnancy starting coming back and I couldn't move easily and I knew it was time for him to come.  W scheduled a day for the induction giving my husband one more weeked to work on our old house which we almost are ready to put on the market-- and we went into the hospital tohave tthis baby.  Unfortunately there was meconium in the amniotic fluid-- we have never had that before but I never heard it was any big deal.  I took forever to get to 5 cm dilation this time and then I instantly went into to heavy labor and had him about 1 hour and 15 minutes later.  I had a midwife instead of my regular doctor this time and it took a lot longer to push the baby out than usual-- I think some of it may have to do with her having me go on my side to push instead of using the stirups-- I like the stirups, they give me something to push against.  Also, she wanted me to move around a little bit, but I was so big with the baby, that I didn't want to move at all-- just lay there and let him come-- so it w ropugher than the others, but it has been my very best recovery so even though it was a tortuous hour, it was totally worth it for the recovery.

They took my sweet baby and because of the meconium, they were worried about his breathing and iwanted to moniter him instead of letting me hold him and nurse him.  I was very disappointed about this, but I trusted their judgement and certainly didn't want him to get pneumonia, but then his glucose went low so they gave him formula.  Fortunately because I recovered so quickly I was able to go in the nursery and eventually they let me hold him and nurse him.  he was doing alright and then about 12 hours after his birth after I had nurd him and held him in my room, they took him again for monitering and his heart rate was super fast-- 270 beats per minute, they were able to astop it by drawing blood, but the cardiologists at primary children's wanted to moniter him for 24 hours incase it happened again.  So my husband and father in law gave the baby a blessing-- he was blesed that he would recover and be healed.  We rode in an ambulance to Primary Children's hospital, they hooked him up to an IV incase he would need medication if his heart went crazy again.  Fortunately he didn't have another episode and they said there was a 1/3 chance that he wouldn't have another episode.  His echocardiogram came back looking good and we just have to go in for a check up next week.  He's eating well and gaining weight although he did have jaundice and we had to
 put him on the billi lights ands go in evyday and get his levels tested.  It was a scary and emotional time and I am still scared sometimes that he is breathing too quickly, but I feel strongly that he is fine and I just need to have faith.  I'm so grateful to have him here.  He is so so sweet.

There is nothing sweeter than a newborn baby and it is so satisfying to watch him doing well.  I love holding him as do the other children.  It was very sobering to see and watch the other babies in the NICU with really major problems who have been in there for months and had surgeries and numerous tests and tons of wires for monitering and meds.  It was so so sad and very sobering to realize just how lucky we are, because even if my baby were to have another episode, it is something that can eventually be fixed.  I am so sorry for those parents with really ill children.  It is awful to watch a sweet baby suffer so.  I've had a hard enough time dealing with this little issue--I hope angels are with those babies and parents who really need support and love and hope.


We love our new house and our neighbors and friends.  We've started some school, I'm reading at night to the kids again and getting my house in order-- we brought the chickens over from the other house and we planted some fall crops in the front yard.  I think this next year wuill be a gret respite and calm compared to past 3 years of difficulty.  I am just full of gratitude and hope.


hing, With our move I just hadn't had time to think about this new littl There as meconium in the water when they broke my sac to induce the little

Lots going on!

We finally moved! We love it! We got evacuated because of a HUGE fire!! The fireline got to within about 1500 ft. of our house we are guessing. We stayed the night in our old house it wasn't too bad we hadn't moved the camping stuff yet, so I got to sleep on our nice airbed. I'm 36 weeks pregnant I went in for an ultrasound last week because I was measuring big and they estimated the baby was already 7 lb 6 oz and looking good and normal so I will probably get induced at 38 or 39 weeks, there is still so much left to do before the baby comes! This has been my easiest pregnancy so far which is a huge blessing since we have had so much stress with getting our house built and settled. We spent a couple days in Park city because after we closed on a Friday, the builder wouldn't give us the key until it funded which it didn't do until Tuesday-- not really surprised given the way the whole thing has gone, now we've been in about 2 weeks and got evacuated!! So sorry to bring our bad luck to the neighbors! Anyway, it looks like the house has survived the fire and they are waiting to make sure the winds and firelines hold and then they'll let us come back. I am so looking forward to having a normal life where we can plan things and do them and get back into a routine. We started a math study group with our neighbors who also homeschool and it is going well, we moms tutor and the younger kids play and keep the babies entertained. It felt so good to do academic things again. I've gotten a lot of boxes unpacked and favorite books on the shelf. Now we'll see what else life has in store for the next while-- never a dull moment that's for sure!!!

Surprising Facts about Utah

Here are some depressing/ surprising news articles about Utah that I was not aware of-- actually I had heard about the anti-depressant use and the plastic surgeons, but not the huge dollar amount spent on hair color and cosmetics nor that Utah is the No. 1 consumer of online porn-- no wonder there were so many conference talks on porn-- But with all of this together-- I think there is a bigger problem here. Given that the population of Utah is about 70% LDS, it does cause one to wonder why Salt Lake City is the vainest city in the country, why is anti-depressant use TWICE what the next state uses, and why are we the no.1 consumer of online porn? Wow-- these are not good statistics for Utah. What's the deal-- what do you think?: http://www.forbes.com/2007/11/29/plastic-health-surgery-forbeslife-cx_rr_1129health_slide_2.html http://articles.latimes.com/2002/feb/20/news/mn-28924 http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700066056/Antidepressants-flow-freely-in-Utah-as-1-in-5-women-partakes.html?pg=1 http://www.sltrib.com/business/ci_11821265

Having a Crew is Fun!!!

This evening after playing "pig" with the basketball my husband set up an obstacle course for the kids to race around. It was simple basically consisting of our still unbuilt green twisty slide pieces to jump over in a circle and a starting/finishing line. The kids had to hold a ball and run through the course as fast as possible. We laughed a lot-- especially at the 2 yr old twins. They were so cute and tried to do what they saw their siblings do, but couldn't quite make it. It was so much fun. I love having a bunch of kids. It's always a party around here!!!

A great article on why p*rn is so bad

I think this article on the effects of pornography is very enlightening. I think it is extremely helpful to understand as much as we can about these issues so that we can teach our children why they must be so careful.

http://nymag.com/nymetro/news/trends/n_9437/

The House

The house is finally moving along well again. the outside is completely covered in the black stuff ready to stucco and the inside is all insulated and the sheetrock is completely done. It is an awesome house with a great layout. We are so glad that they are finally working on it again!!!