Trying for a Well Baby Check

 Andrew was excited to be 4 months old.  

He liked to coo at his daddy, and anyone else who liked cooing, and was feeling pretty large knowing that he'd hit 17 pounds 9 oz. at 3 months. 

So, he went in for his 4 month check up. Sure he'd been breathing rattly and his nose was the runniest ever. How could he be that sick when he was smiling and cooing all of the time? Well, the scale still read 17 pounds 9 ounces, same as it had the month before. And the rattly chest was RSV. And the RSV had caused ear infections in both ears. Uh-oh, Andrew. (Pic at 3.5 mo.)

I think he was 25 inches at that appointment, but all of the sicknesses he had made me forget - and the doctor didn't give me a paper because of the rest of the stuff she was thinking of. And percentiles? Who knows. Sorry, bud, I'll document you more later. Two weeks later he was 18lbs. 4 oz, but still infected ears, and two weeks after that (5 months) he had reached 19 lbs. 1 oz, and finally a point where he could get shots. Hooray! (Even though a 3rd antibiotic was in order. And a different reflux med.)

He's done a few rolls here and there, but doesn't really roll around the room (until today). Instead he does little wiggles of happiness that somehow scoot his body around. And end him up in some interesting places.  (4.5 mo.)

When he's on his tummy he does little face dives and other maneuvering that scoots him backwards. And in circles, too. It's pretty accidental, and after a while he finds himself far away from his toys. (Yes, he started at the toys here.) 

He's so chubby I can't help but kiss and kiss him. He is getting more interested in stuff now - mostly in grabbing stuff. He's at that age where eating with him on your lap would just be a plate toss. This week he's been doing ab work and progressing with sitting quite nicely. Today my sister brought a toy he felt was worth sitting up for, and he did it for a minute. We all love to laugh with him and egg him on in his baby-dance of glee. 

Want to see it again? 

Waiting on Mr. Wendell

Did you ever stay in the same room as your radio for hours on end so you'd be there to press record the second that a song you were waiting for came on? I think I filled a couple of tapes worth of that. Back in 8th grade I rotated listening to those and my Joey Lawrence tape. Then when I tried out for the drill team, our try out song was "Mr. Wendell," and I waited forever to get just the perfect recording of it. When my sister tried out two years later, I was able to get her song much more quickly, because it was "Good Vibrations," which so happened to be background music on The Mighty Ducks, which we owned. So, my sister practiced her tryout dance with occasional sounds of clattering hockey equipment.

I was thinking about that yesterday when I was scanning for a song I wanted to hear while driving. I realized that kids these days don't sit poised over cassette tapes - they run to iTunes. Crazy.

(That was going to be the end, but then this morning at church someone read a quote from Elder Uchtdorf that made the whole thought process meaningful. Look here if you want to think deep, or just stop now and chuckle at your youth.)

So Many Birds, So Few Stones

I feel like it's very important to keep track of our little family's history, but just like everyone there are about a million things battling for my time. A few months ago Gary's family decided to send weekly updates to eachother, which has been really fun, and turns out to kill two birds with one stone for me. I think I'm keeping better track of what we're up to lately (when I write), so I've been copying the parts of my letters that tell what we're up to and putting them in blog posts because I want to keep everything all in one place. I haven't been publishing them because I was talking about Gary being gone all of the time, but now that he's home all of the time (not really, but often enough that creepy people beware), I'm posting them. I plan to keep publishing them, a month at a time. I don't really expect most people to read them (like I said, I'm posting them for keeping track's sake), but I thought I'd explain in case anyone wonders. They'll be long, but if you're curious there's stuff in there. They're not well-edited, I reference people I don't explain, I switch tenses . . . and I'm not worried about it. I'm excited that it's written down at all!

Updates March

March 2:

As for us, the saving grace of the week was - Allison is the hostess with the mostest! She totally took care of me, and regardless of the sad reason for my visit, I had a really enjoyable weekend. I was really blessed to be able to find people to take care of Josh and Noah here in the ward. It almost made me cry to see how willing people were to help when they heard why I was going. And Gary was awesome, too - in addition to his slaving for the legislature, he also played Super Dad at night and on the weekend, and even cleaned a toilet. I am totally fine with the large quantities of ice cream and PB & J's consumed . . . the kids loved their "guy party."

The funeral for which I went to NC for was very good. The Spirit was so strong, and although many tears were shed, perspective and comfort were gained. It was fun to laugh at the funny memories of my friend, and discuss feelings with others. I came home that night and told Allison a lot of things, and we had to cry again. My friend's name was Catie, and her husband Steve wrote a eulogy for the funeral that was read by a good friend of his, because her wish had been that her husband sit with the kids through the entire funeral. He posted it on their blog later on, and if you're interested (Allison), the address is www.steve-catie.blogspot.com. I gained a lot of insights this week, and overall want to be a better person and not take anything for granted, especially my husband and children.

Allison cooked and baked awesome food, and we had good times chatting and watching the Olympics. She also took me to Franklin Street, a charming older neighborhood in Chapel Hill where we ate Chinese food. Then, as Allison mentioned, a couple from my mission came down to see me, which was awesome. I hadn't seen them since their sealing - three days before I went to CA to meet Gary's family for the first time! So, a lot has changed, and Allison was sooo awesome to have them over. It was good to see they have grown so much in the gospel and in the church.

On my way home I sat next to a guy who was in the Olympics competing in biathalon. He got 9th, so was disappointed, but he lives and trains by Heber, so if Sara and Taylor want to start their kids in on being biathletes, I'll hook you guys up. I also flew on the same plane as a bobsled-woman (so said the biathlete), and Torah Bright, the LDS Australian girl that won gold in the snow-boarding half-pipe. My brushes with fame kept me from getting too sick after traveling all day long. So now we're all tired, but all together, so we're happy . . . if I could only find the source of the rotten lettuce smell . . .

March 7

As for us, if we had a paper chain until the legislative session is over, it would only have four links on it! Gary will probably take the air mattress and a change of clothes to work this week, but it's the homestretch, baby. So, for one more week Gary's story is spending day and night debating the release of prisoners and other such money matters. His break is today, when he made a fantastic meatloaf and is now playing wrestle mania with the boys. (Body slam, daddy, body slam!) Our story at home started out as trying to get back into our regular routine (everybody was tuckered from traveling/being babysat). And then there's the Story of Thursday.


The Story of Thursday

The day started out with me being worried about those with sick babies (family and ward members). How could I help? Then, I took Andrew to his well-baby check. He was not so well. Turns out he was getting over RSV and had developed 2 ear infections. I felt awful. Poor baby, just smiles and coos and lights up when given any attention, and all the while is a sick boy. So, we had to go get some medicine, so I picked Josh up early from preschool and found out he'd been naughty (Ran away from the teacher-mom at the park along with the other boys.) I'd have to give him some consequences for that. So, we get home from the store (which actually went really well, I was feeling great), and I give the boys some food and then try to feed Andrew. Josh and Noah were sprinkling granola all over the kitchen, but I didn't want to make Andrew stop eating because he was feeling so cruddy. Then, I get a phone call - Could I meet with the bishop that night, and bring my husband if possible?

At this point I started laughing. Just laughing and laughing at the scene around me. I knew the only auxillary that needed reorganizing was the Relief Society, and it was just so funny. Anyway, it turned out that I'll be the first counselor. Phew! President is the hard job (sorry, Candacy, but you are awesome at it), so it will be great. And throughout the day I found out that the people with babies that I was praying for all got taken care of in some sort of way, even though I wasn't able to go help. Isn't the Lord great?

Anyway, my friend that just died was an awesome journal keeper, and it motiviated me to preserve my history in some way. So, before I sign off I'll mention that Noah loves to just suddenly start praying out of nowhere, and Josh helps him. Arms folded and all. Also, he now goes around singing "We all live in a submarine," "Jingle balls," and "Pants on the ground." (It's from American Idol. Youtube it.) It's hilarious. Josh is suddenly really into puzzles, wearing stretch pants and a cape to "be a hero," and is surprisingly able to kind of hit the ball in tennis. And trampoline weather is kind of here!

March 15
This last week was a blur for me . . . Gary was never home almost at all, and then Thursday night at around 12:30 a.m. (techinically Friday), I was sleeping and suddenly this guy jumps on me and says, "We're done!!!" Yeah, it was Gary. Before that I think I did stuff. I had a bunch of women in my ward over on Wednesday night whose husbands were also gone. There is a whole bunch and it makes me feel bad I didn't have more get togethers. However, I'm not sad I'm not in that boat anymore . . . until next time. In all, Gary worked over 230 hours of overtime since January. What a man.


So, we had Martin Luther King day on Friday, and did mostly nothing. It was awesome. Then on Saturday I went to an Early Childhood Education conference, and it was excellent. While I was there Gary took the kids to the Bean Museum at BYU (a.k.a. Dead Animal Museum), and reports were favorable. Then we all went to the Mayan restaurant in Salt Lake - it has cliff divers and fire dancing, so we went there to have a "we made it" celebration at a place that the kids would be entertained. They loved it, so much that we almost lost Noah climbing over the railing to participate. Then yesterday we had President's Day and accomplished grocery shopping, and that's about it. But once again, it was so great to have Gary/Dad around . . . now I have something for Relief Society every night this week . . . ha, ha, Gary . . .(Okay, that's not quite fair, he's been working his tail off. Oh, well, not deleting it.)

April 5: (Really, the rest of March)

Quick recap of life - I've been gone a whole ton with Relief Society, and Gary has been a star at being a dad and dealing with my exhaustion. Gary took the first day of the NCAA tournament off work, and was glad he did. The first BYU game was great, and I threw in some chips and salsa to sweeten the deal. BYU didn't last much longer, but we've still had fun.


Our dishwasher went out, so we've been washing dishes by hand and looking for a new one. We're also trying to get Noah out of the crib (he climbs out anyway) so Andrew can get in, so we bought a bunk bed. Josh could not be more pumped about the bunk bed. From the second it came home he wanted it put together, but fell asleep during its assembly. We had him watching "The Princess and the Frog" with me for a movie night to keep him entertained while Gary built, but even though he liked the movie he couldn't quite focus. "How long is this movie, mom?" he asked. "I've been watching it all night." The next morning he was thrilled to wake up in the new bed, and has declared that the top is a castle and the bottom is a cave. The other night when I went to read him to sleep Josh said, "Dad says you're too fat to get on top with me." O-oh . . .(Actually Gary said he was the fat one, but Josh extended that to all parents.)

On Tuesday I was at the bottom of the laundry barrel, so I dressed us all kind of homelessly, thinking it didn't matter because the kids would be home all day and I would change into church clothes for the General Relief Society training meeting. However, there were huge fires on I-80, making it take a long time for Gary to get home, and effectively cancelling my plans. Gary fell asleep on his long bus ride and missed his stop, so when we had to go pick him up in Tooele, we decided to pick up our new dishwasher at the same time. By the time it was in the car, it was getting late and no dinner had been made at home, so we decided to hit up kids eat free night at Denny's. (This is not something we've ever done before.) I had been thinking earlier in the day that going to see the Easter bunny is an odd thing to do, so I was delighted to see him at Denny's. The whole thing seemed like an over-all awesome situation - wearing our washday finest while dining with the Easter bunny at Denny's in Tooele. The kids loved it, though, so a happy G & E family it was.

Gary installed the dishwasher, and prevailed even through faulty instructions - that's my man. Andrew is on his third antibiotic to get rid of the ear infection he's had since North Carolina, Josh will need to get his tonsils out soon, Josh started soccer practice and put on his uniform (unnecessary) at 9 a.m. for his 5:30 practice, and Noah continues to push the envelope of destruction (poured out a bottle of perfume, broke a mug, and drank Andrew's Zantac all in one day). But, he also pushes the envelope of cute (ask grandma about when he called her and sang "Follow the Prophet"), so he survives to see another day.

We LOVED seeing Sara and Taylor and meeting baby Jake (if you haven't yet, get excited for cuteness), and celebrating Eric and Holly's birthdays. Fantastic company and abundant amazing dessert. Take me back . . . We went to my parents' house on Saturday and Sunday for Easter festivities, and had a great time. We relaxed a surprising amount for two days, and the kids were busy enough for us to get in a little conference (it's always on, but ask Eric about last time . . .). I'll post Easter pics on my blog someday. Today I posted about March Madness and a mysterious camera bruising.

Okay, well have a great week everyone. We plan to, even though April is coming in like a lion. Or are snow showers supposed to bring May flowers, too?

Mad March Memories

From a letter I wrote to my sister in 2005:

Some other boys in the ward assigned girls' names to the teams in the NCAA tournament bracket, and they will take out the girls that make it to the final four. I am Arizona, a #3 seed who is still in the tournament, but I will have to beat Shannon Bloom who is Illinois to make it. That will be tough.

Shannon Bloom ended up winning the date, but by that point I didn't care because I was dating Gary. Would have been awkward . . .

Skip forward to 2008. I was hugely pregnant with Noah, and one night Gary presented me with a blank tournament bracket to fill out. So, we both made our picks, set the papers down beside the bed, and turned out the lights. Since I was so large, I had a hard time getting comfortable. I tossed and turned, trying to find a position in which my whale belly and sleep could co-exist. After a while of listening to my rustling Gary said, "Can't sleep because you're excited about your bracket?"

This year Gary decided he'd treat himself to a day off work to watch the first day of the tournament. (He'd been working non-stop.) We had a bracket contest with my family, and Josh picked his winners solely based on the awesomeness of their logos. Thus, he had Florida vs. East Tennessee State in the national championship game. We had a lot of fun watching the first couple of days, especially since we were too exhausted to do much else. After not too long our hearts (BYU - although the first game was awesome) and our brackets (Kansas) were broken, but that's all part of the madness. For some reason Josh has loved the sound of Butler's name from the beginning, and gets excited when he hears they're playing. Gotta end this post because there's only 40 seconds left.

Here's Gary and Andrew loving their March Madness.

You Be the CSI

I went to upload pictures to my computer, and when I got out my camera I found it to be kind of bent and messed up. What happened? I don't know exactly, but when I put in the memory card I found the following photos. Give me your best guess.

There were about 5 more. The memory card was full. Josh was excited to see the pictures. That is all of the evidence I have to submit at this time.