Ninja Ornaments

Zane is on vacation, so the Ninjas will have to fight on their own.

- Zach

My Babies are One

...and I am so in love with them!  They are so fun together.  This afternoon Hayley wandered around the house calling for Whitney so that they could play together.  Once she found her they had a shoe party (since that is what Whitney was playing with).  Too cute!

I am so glad that they have each other and that we have them.

The Sewing Machines?

Yes, our kids do weird things just before bed.  Last night it was an episode of the Human Sewing Machines!

The Kids

My Baby was Blessed...

It is truly a miracle to have our baby girl here with us.  We are so lucky to have her and all of the support around us.  Thank you!  Whitney is now almost 4 months old and tipping the scales at about 10 1/2 pounds (almost).  She even laughed this week.  It was so precious!

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Strait Forward, I like it.

No beating around the bush for these guys. :-)

It's kind-of hard to read, but it's worth the strain.

How Many????

Zach is bringing a treat to class this week, but they have to guess how many are in the bag.  Zach really wants to know how many there are, so I told him.

However, I didn't just tell him.  I gave him an equation to find the answer.

He's currently working on it.  Here is the equation, see if you can figure it out:

Fun in the dirt!

It's always a good day when you have to rent an excavator and dig a trench.  Our main water line had been leaking for almost 6 months.  It finally started going into our basement, so we finally replaced it. :-)

In buying the new connectors and pipe, it appears that there is a new type of fitting that Home Depot and Lowes sell.  The brand is 'Shark Bite'.  They made for one of the best plumbing experiences I've ever had.  All you do is push your pipe into the connector, that's it!  No matter what kind of pipe you have, PEX, CPVS, or Copper, it's all the same, just push it in and turn on the water!  Way expensive, but when you only  need 2 or three for a project, it's well worth it.

Yes We're All Still Alive

It's been a while sense we've posted, but you probably can imagine why. We've been getting used to being outnumbered 2 to 1. It's been pretty interesting.

From carrying in 'dead' (sleeping) children from the car after all of the various errands we've ran:

To learning how to take 2 kids to the bathroom at the same time. Helping the one, while securing the other from wandering and while leaving one in sacrament meeting by himself. Oh, and while Mom is at the hospital with #4:

Letting the kids help as much as possible, w/out risking #4's life too much:

For the most part, we're getting back into a new routine.

Thanks again to all those who have been directly helping us over the past 3 months.

Life in the NICU

Over the past several weeks people have asked "how are you doing?" or "how are you surviving this?" The answer is with faith. I know it may not mean much to other people, but it is HUGE for me. Before our first trip to the hospital, I had asked Peter for a priesthood blessing. (A priesthood blessing is a sacred blessing for comfort, counsel or healing that is available to everyone . It is given to an individual by a Melchizedek Priesthood holder.) I was scared and did not know what to do so I asked for one. The blessing helped to calm me down and has helped several times since, as I have thought back on the words that were expressed to me at that time. All I know is that Heavenly Father knows us, even if we don't know Him, and he is watching over us hour by hour. The scripture, "be still and know that I am God" has ran through my mind so many times. I am glad that He is in charge, and that He has provided ways for me to have peace.

Today Whitney is four weeks old. So far she has spent everyday in the NICU making friends and enjoying the good food. ;) Currently the NICU is over capacity and so we have what the nurses call 'bunk mates.' Whitney's bunk mate is Mr. Lucas. He was born a week earlier and is about the same gestational age - 35 weeks. They, along with most of their friends, are in the Feeder Grower Nursery or the Fat Room. The babes in that nursery are for the most part stable and working on growing and gaining weight. Currently Whitney is one pound and six ounces past her birth weight, making her 5lbs 13 oz.

In the NICU there are only a few windows and two weeks ago we got moved near one. Up until then we were far away, or in our own room. This new move made it possible for Whitney's siblings to come see her. I wish I had a camera from the inside, Zach and Liz's facial expressions were priceless.

Finally, if you ever find yourself in the same situation, here is a list of the lingo often used:

Toaster Head - having a head that is a little flat on both sides.

Doughnut - a round pillow to help with the "toaster head".

Zaky - a hand, literally. Shaped like an ovenmit and filled with beans.

Bendy Bumper - a "U" shaped bumper pad.

The BBG - The Baby Booger Grabber. The king of all snot suckers.

Monkey Bar Crib -The scariest looking crib ever. Believe it or not it actually looks more welcoming with all of the machines attached.

Big Girl/Boy Bed - the well baby tubs

Graduation - when you move from the A Nursery to the B Nursery, etc.

Just an update...

Whitney is doing great!!! And I think we've been vomit free for almost a week!! More and more of Emily's time is being spent at the hospital, as Whitney keeps progressing. The doctors are all really impressed with Whitney's health and strength. Feedings are going well. Still no concrete times on when she'll get to come home, but things are looking really good. Thanks for all the prayers, food, baby sitting, words of encouragement, etc... It really makes events like this more manageable.

Why do 40 when 31 seems to work...

Well, it all started with Zach throwing up at 3AM Saturday morning. He then spent the rest of the day feeling sick, and working on trying to keep foods down. At about noon, Emily joined him in the same sick feelings, however, she didn't loose it till about 7 at night. That's about when Zach's fever went away, and he was ready to go. One kid done...

Well, at about 2AM Sunday morning, Emily was able to keep a Popsicle down, which was good, but at about 3 she began to express that the random contractions that she'd been experiencing all day were starting to hurt. She began to time them, and as they were only 4 minutes apart we headed off to the hospital.

We got checked in at about 3:30AM and with a little luck, Emily was able to get a spinal block, but by just after 4AM Whitney had joined us and was ready for life. Well almost. This is where the fun begins.

Due to the fact that she's 2 months early, they had to transfer her to another hospital. One that is capable of dealing with 31 week old babies. I've never seen a portable incubater, but it had everything needed to keep Whitney going. It was an interesting drive, following an ambulance to a hospital, knowing the person inside the ambulance is your child. (No lights or sirens, just a nice Sunday morning drive.) Plenty of time to think about what just happened....

After I left with Whitney, Em hung out for a few hours and was then let go. Talk about super mom, she didn't even get a normal recovery room, they just let her go from labor and delivery.... she's amazing.

Well, to make a long story short, Whitney is breathing on her own now, and we're going to start working on foods, etc... The doctors say, "Plan on her being here till her due date (Mid March)." I'm, of course, hoping for something much sooner.

At any rate, we are counting our blessings given the fact that things played out how they did vs. how they could have played out with birthing a baby 2 months early.

We've had tons of support from family and friends, all of which we are indeed grateful for. That support has allowed us to provide our attention on Whitney during these first few days of her life, while not completely shafting our other kids of the attention they need.

It's a full service solon where they have her. Tanning beds and all... :-)

This is one of her better pictures, this was shortly after they took the respirator out, and she began breathing on her own. It was nice to see her face for once.

At any rate, I would recommend 31 weeks instead of 40, only if you have super good insurance....we're going to be finding out if we do over these next few months. It apparently makes for a much faster recovery for mom, so that's a plus :-) Ok not really, I'd go the 40 week route any day.

I'll update as things progress, but for now, it sounds like we'll be waiting for her plumbing to wake up and kick into gear. Which could take a few days to a few weeks.....

Deer In The Headlight, Literally

This past week I got a real good look at a deer, right before I ran into it with my car. I think my car made out better than the deer, but the deer still did some damage.

Here are the kiddos helping me repair the car.

I was on a 50mph road, and by the time I slammed on the breaks I was probably still going 35 or so. The deer was trying to get out of the way, but I hit her back half with the drivers side of my car.

I talked to the safety inspection people, and it sounds like I don't need a grille, and my bumper should be ok, so my car just took the next step towards complete gettoness. :-)

This might be all that's left of the deer, looks like my grille kept a chuck as a souvenir...I never knew deer hair was so thick.....

There's a Dragon In Our House

We heard something interesting the other night. We soon found ourselves in the middle of a dragon hunt! See if you can hear it.

Thanksgiving Vacation

We finally had a vacation this past thanksgiving holiday. Not only did we uphold the yearly tradition of going to the Great-grandparents for the holiday, but we hit up Disneyland and Legoland!

We went to San Diego and hung out with the Grandparents first. We went to Legoland with them, and grandma took all the pictures. We haven't gotten any of the pictures from her yet, so sorry, no Legoland pics.

The week of Thanksgiving, we got a hotel right across the street from Disney. Here we are at the IHOP the morning of the big day.

The very first ride we went on was Roger Rabbits wild ride. Right when we got in line, they announced that the ride had broken down. Nice way to start out the day... :-) Everyone started getting out of line. The operator said it might take 20 or more minutes to fix. Funny thing was that the wait time was about 20 minutes according to the sign. We decided to wait it out as we would have been in the line for that much time anyway. Everyone except one other family left the line. So we had fun running up and down the queue line while waiting. I also got to see the repair guys come out of the wood work and run some diagnostics on the ride. So of course I was entertained as well. Here is the fam right after the ride. Lizzy didn't appreciate it very much.

We hit up It's a Small World next. That, by far, was the hit of the day. We went on it twice, even though the wait was not the shortest. The weather was pretty good as well. The sun was out for most of the day, and in Southern California, as long as the sun is out, it's a nice day to be outside.

At night, it got a bit chilly, but due to our last theme park experience, we were prepared for the cold. Lizzy had so much fun all day that she actually fell asleep. She's asleep in this picture. We didn't want her to fall off the back of the stroller so we tied the arms of her sweatshirt to it. It worked pretty well.

Only one day in Disneyland, after that we went to Joshua Tree to the Great-grandparents for Thanksgiving.

Our kids did a great job on the way home. Last year Zach cried for about 5 hours of the car ride. This year all three did a great job. We kept them excited with being able to set up the christmas tree when we got home.

Best Halloween Ever! (Weather Wise)

We've never had such good weather before for Halloween. It made trick-0r-treating perfect!

I have to say that Lizzie's wings ended up working perfectly! You never know what 90 Volts AC and a nerd for a father can do to a kids costume. :-) She loved her glowing wings. When it got dark, it was really easy to keep track of her.

Just an update..

I was going through our photos lately and noticed that most of them were of house projects. We were missing the important photos of things like our kids growing up, so I thought that I would take a few of them.

Today for homework Zach ran an experiment...which melts faster ice or ice cream. What do you think?

Here are our results:

The ice won.

And finally Peter got the one thing he has been dreaming about for years. He is now a licensed Master Electrician. So if you ever see this in our home you can rest assure that it was not approved by him. :)

Quick Survey

Just wanted to get peoples opinions.

What smart phone should I get? And why?

Make way for progress!!

I had another tree cutting party about 3 weeks ago, but lost the camera shortly after that. Well, we just found it, and here is the climax to our tree cutting adventures!

Phase 2 Pour

The second phase of our concrete effort happened as planed, I just haven't had a chance to blog about it yet.

So, here we go:

It started at 5:30 AM (Thanks to those who came out to help). Sorry for the fuzzy pictures.

It went pretty smoothly, for the most part.

Trying to level off 10 feet of concrete vs. 4 is a lot harder.

But in the end, it looks pretty good!

Now all that's left is to pull off the forms from the patio, and re-level the dirt.