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.

I Haven't Seen a Sasquatch, But My Boys Are Cute

While Gary watches this show about Sasquatch sightings in Alaska (awesome), I'll take a chance to post some random pictures from the last four months. Starting us off, this picture is of Josh in the Snuggli. We had it out for Andrew, then thought it would be funny to try Noah in it since he's within their advertised weight limit. Noah hated it, but Josh thought it was hilarious. And it was, we laughed and laughed at this one.

Poor Noah was so exhausted one day, he just layed down in the hallway and fell asleep. After taking his socks off, of course.

One day Noah ate a marker. Well, lots of days Noah ate a marker, but one day in particular I thought, "Emily, you always took pictures of when Josh got into stuff, why not Noah." So here he is, marker face. And one day I'll have a nice camera that doesn't make my kids look ghostie. Whatever.

During the summer I relied on sending my kids outside to keep them entertained while I cooked dinner. But then it was winter . . . not possible. By dinner time they're usually tired of roaming around playing with toys, so I've sometimes tried to get something else going. One of the most popular has been turning on music (usually this random satellite kids' channel), and letting them dance. Josh really has some moves, and has been especially exicted about music since I recorded the Spiderman theme song. He'll put in on 30 times in a row, I'm not kidding. It's cute, and I've memorized a new song.

We don't have a picture of that, but here's another idea I had. I put out placemats and a few play dishes, and let them play in shaving cream. It's just soap, and pretty easy to clean. They really loved it for a few minutes, but this activity didn't last as long as I had hoped, because what they really wanted to do was . . .

read books to Andrew. They did this forever. Andrew was a captive audience.

When Andrew was new, Josh thought it was awesome to make special beds for Andrew out of couch pillows. He was pretty proud of what he'd done for his brother.

One day while Josh was at preschool and I needed to do some things, I filled a basin full of snow and put it in the sink. Noah stood on a chair and played in it with spoons and cups. He had a blast, and kept playing even after his hands started to be pink. By the time they were red he was done, though.

Noah is a stuffed animal kid. He loves hugging them when he's tired, needs comfort, or is trying to go to sleep. His favorite one is Piggy. I got Piggy when I was in high school, and he used to be wearing overalls, but Noah prefers his stuffed animals not to wear clothes. Who would have thought when I made my strange purchase (from QVC), that I would someday have an adorable little boy who would love it? Here is Noah taking Piggy for a ride.

One day Noah got Vicks Vaporub all over himself. And the bathroom. And when I discovered him he was lounging back in the sink, relaxed as if he were in a spa.

Here's a closeup. Vicks is clear, so it doesn't seem so dramatic in a photo. But those of you just looking at the photo aren't smelling it. Or cleaning it up.

And we leave you with another crash landing. I swear we could all fall asleep any time, anywhere these days. Here, Josh fell asleep in a corner, behind a recliner. Sweet dreams!

Updates February

January 31:
As for our week, Gary worked until 11 or later almost every night, including Saturday, so it's been nutty. Good thing is we'll have that in time off in the summer, and also his work is super interesting. Gary and I have discussed the merits of several bills before the media got wind of them. So, we'll let that be our solace, I guess. Josh went to Preston to hang out with his cousins for two days, so I got some great Noah-time. So, highlights of the week: Playing basketball with Noah, taking him to ice cream for FHE, going to the children's museum and Costa Vida on Friday night, and Josh discovering the Olivia books. Lowlights include spending all day Saturday trying to get things together for a trip to WalMart because we were out of milk and hadn't had an oil change in 6 months, finally getting there at 5:30, and then after taking all 3 boys through the store, finding out at pick-up time that although we were 1 quart low, they didn't change my oil because the last mechanic who did it put the plug in sideways and it's starting to strip. Also discovering a flat tire on the other car after church. Other highlight, the boys are playing basketball with Gary now and having a great time, and the rolls I'm making smell good. Thusly, life is good.

February 8:
Leah's wake-up routine reminds me of Noah. He wakes up and yells, "Mom, I awake, get me out!" He also sings to himself in his crib a lot, but he hasn't gotten it together enough to sing an actual song like Leah. Geez, Noah. And Candacy, so glad you have the means to whip up carb-delights. Makes life worth it. I just got a mix-ish thing and use it a lot. I tried to start putting whole wheat flour in with regular, to make things better, but Gary says he prefers just white. Too bad.


So besides noticing Eric's mysterious lack of antecedents, I guess we did do stuff last week. More working like crazy for Gary. The kids didn't see him from Sunday until Thursday when he came home magically early at 8:00. Both of our cars got fixed, and it wasn't as bad as we thought for either of them, so that's good. Josh has become obsessed with playing games this week, and it's fun since he's the man around here these days. My sister Kayla came and stayed with us on Friday and Saturday, so it was awesome to have another big person around those two days. She helped me fold laundry for 3 hours while she got caught up on Lost - that's how behind I get without Gary. On Friday night we had a game party - played Candy Land and Memory, then put Josh to bed and played a big-kid game. We also ate lots of candy, and Josh was so pumped. "We're eating candy and playing Candy Land!" he had to exclaim several times. Then on Saturday we went to the Children's Museum in Salt Lake and then met up with some more of my sisters and my mom to celebrate Kayla's 14th birthday at an Italian restaurant. Yum. Then I ran a marathon to work off the weekend's eating . . . I wish.

February 23:
Monday, Schmonday . . . if that is a real rule, I will rarely be able to write. :) The last two weeks have been a whirlwind for us. President's Day weekend the kids and I went to my mom's house while Gary stayed home to work 16 hour days every day but Sunday. We celebrated my mom's birthday by going to a Vocal Point concert - the came to Preston and it was tons of fun! Josh came, too, and loved it. I told him it was just okay because Uncle Christian was no longer in it. The next night when I thought Josh was asleep I heard him practicing vocal percussion in his bed. The next day I was hired as Vocal Point's tour guide through Preston's Napoleon Dynamite sites. My sister is actually good friends with one of the guys, so that's why we were asked to show them around. I haven't thought about Napoleon stuff in a long time, so it was a fun blast from the past.


While in Preston we also celebrated my neice Madeline's birthday (hooray, for a while there we were scared about that girl). Since I had two sisters expecting babies and my mom was planning on going to Barstow to be with one of them, the one left behind in Preston would have no mom-help. So, my sister Sarah and I made 6 different freezer meals for her while we were up there, so that she would at least have something. Then, last Friday, both of the babies were born. Katie's by scheduled c-section (breech baby), and Cindy's just decided that day would work for him as well. Katie's baby (Lily) is doing great, but Cindy's baby (Beckett) is still in the NICU. He swallowed some fluid after he was born and went completely blue and limp - not breathing for at least a minute. He was revived, and will be okay, but poor little guy (and poor Cindy) have a lot to deal with right now. I really want to go help her, but . . . my college roommate who had cancer died yesterday morning, and I am going to the funeral. Cindy says she really wants me to. I think it's close to her heart because her husband's dad died of cancer when he was young.

So, that's the sad news. If you are curious about my friend's story, her husband wrote a synopsis on their blog www.steve-catie.blogspot.com. The good news is, they live in North Carolina, as do some of my favorite people, whom I will get to stay with. Other good news is my dashing boyfriend got off work ridiculously early last Thursday (6:00!) to take me on a Valentine date. We ate at Noodles then went to find me a couple of things to wear that fit. Romantic? Oh yes, Gary is good at finding things for me a clothing store, it turns out. Also, I am motivated to get dressed when I have something to wear, and getting dressed is more romantic than jammies all day.

Speaking of blogs, if you haven't yet, you should check out the pictures of not-so-little Andrew on my blog: www.emilary.blogspot.com. A visit to my dad's office revealed he weighs 17 lbs. 8 oz. Not 4 months until Saturday. The same visit revealed a pretty abnormal tympanogram for Josh, which confirmed my suspicion that his hearing isn't the best. Hopefully the nasal spray he was given will help as it's supposed to.

Dear Catie

I wanted to find pictures, to write more of the memories, and more of the feelings. But getting to the funeral has required a lot of arranging, so none of that today. I wrote her a letter the day before she passed away because I wanted to let her know how great she was to me. I'm pretty sure she never read it, but I know she knows what it says. I'm posting it because for lack of time to write other things, it is my tribute to her.

Dear Catie,

I was taking a Sunday afternoon nap just now, and I had a dream that we were all sitting around in someone’s room talking, just like back in the day. You were cheerful and funny, and we were having a great time. Someday we’ll recreate that for real. The dream kicked me into action – I’ve been wanting to write you and tell you how great you are.

When I first got to BYU, I was pretty scared. I went down for honors orientation, but after I woke up and got dressed the first day, I almost didn’t go. Then, I met the nicest girl from Tennessee. I think she caught me trying to put some volume into my sadly limp hair. She and her dad were both super nice, and it was exciting to be with her all day as she would often exclaim, “I can’t believe all these people are Mormon!” Saved my day, and made me feel like I might actually make it.

So many memories, it’s fun to think. So many nights talking, So many nights talking way too late, Thanksgiving in Preston (my parents still love you), going to the football games, getting kidnapped to go to the Mo for my birthday breakfast, the infamous spelling bee, the Dallin Anderson fan club, doing the ‘N Sync dance, Stop in the Name of Love, swimming at the RB, buying a Christmas tree, enjoying the Jello you would always make, having an apartment hoe-down to your fiddle music . . . I thought of more the other day. It seems like a long time ago, but it was such an important time of my life. The time when I was trying to figure out how to be on my own, and I’m convinced the Lord gave me great friends to get me through it.

I know I never told anyone at the time, but the summer between freshman and sophomore year was extremely difficult for me. When I got back to school the whole thing was weighing on me and bringing out all of my other insecurities. It was no secret I was struggling, but I don’t even think I fully understood everything going on inside my head. But through the whole thing, you were kind and caring towards me. I remember one night you were typing a paper and I was laying on the floor for some reason. I don’t remember at all what we talked about, but I do remember feeling like someone cared. Enough that it's stuck with me. Going to Taiwan and then later to BYU-Hawaii were amazing experiences for me that shaped a lot of who I am, and I’m glad I went those places. However, it’s always made me a little sad that I wasn’t able to come back to Provo to be with you and the other girls. That’s okay, like I said, someday.

I was looking at the “We Love Catie” website a while back, and noticed a line at the top I haven’t noticed since the first time I logged on a couple of years ago. It basically says that the site is to cheer you on as you “fight and win your current battle with cancer.” I was kind of discouraged thinking about it, because it seemed at the time that the cancer was starting to win. This rolled over in my brain for a while, until it hit me on Christmas Eve as I was pondering the meaning of the holiday. The cancer can’t win. No matter what happens, the cancer can’t win because the Savior already beat it. Thank you so much for sharing all of your insights and your beautiful family with everyone during this struggle you’re having. I am trying really hard not to take little things for granted, like taking care of my children, as you have so often mentioned. Thank you so much.

Know that I love you, and I think about and pray for you and your family often.

Love,
Emily

P.S. To anyone who read this and wants to know what happened, her husband wrote a synopsis at http://www.steve-catie.blogspot.com/. Also, I loved what my friend Krista wrote here and here. I put the links even though the first one contains photos of me circa 1997. :) And yes, I knew she was dying when I wrote about someday. I know there are plenty of somedays.

It's "Little" Andrew

Here's my baby:

Oh, yeah, that's right. So perfect for cuddling and kissing. I knew he was getting big when I had to switch him to size 3 diapers and 3-6 month clothes around Christmas time (right before he turned two months). Then, at his two-month check-up he was 15 lbs., 12 oz. (99th percentile), and 24 inches long (just under 90th percentile). But after that, he's just kept getting bigger. I'm not really sure how big he is now, but he's 3 months old now, and I won't take him in for another month. However, I put him on the scale at the grocery store in the children's museum, and it said over 17 pounds. Who knows how accurate that is, but he seems big enough. I think it's cute, just as long as it's not the result of some disorder . . . for now we'll go with cute. Oh, and he's shiny in the picture because I just put Aquaphor on him.

His size is good for holding his head up and rolling. He rolled from his front to back the first time a month and a half ago, and now does it a little more regularly. When he's on his tummy pushing up on his hands, you can really see what his little face looks like, minus the extra rolls. This is how I see him.

Andrew has the hugest smiles, and laughs, too. I've never had a baby who laughed when tickled so early. He doesn't laugh every single time he gets tickled, but if he's in a happy mood it's just hilarious. I don't have great laughing pictures (hard to get with babies sans fancy camera or tons of luck), but here's a sample.

Yes, he's smaller in these last two pictures. They were taken in mid-December.

Josh is a good brother and often says, "Andrew really likes me." Josh has been known to put Andrew in his bed next to him to snuggle, and once I found Josh asleep with Andrew just calmly laying beside him. Too bad Andrew has gotten too big for Josh to carry, it was so cute.

Josh loves feeding Andrew a bottle (it's another issue, but please let him still take a bottle . . . he hasn't gotten one often enough, it seems.)

Andrew loves playing with his toys that dangle down. He stays interested way longer than Josh would have ever thought of at that age. Whether this is by force or by personality, I don't know, but it's cute to see him get all excited and talk his little baby babble as he plays.

Andrew gets covered up by this one, but the boys really wanted to all be in the picture.

Speaking of all the boys, I was trying to get all three of them together when Andrew was still pretty new, but neglected to actually dress them first. I take what I can get. Oh, and this was when Noah still had his cast.

Noah always says, "I want hold Anoos." So we put Andrew on his lap, and usually before Andrew really even settles there, Noah says, "I done."

A shot of him at about 6 weeks old.

When he was still pretty new.

And finally, his first bath where he could really get his whole body in the water, at around 2 weeks old. Very relaxing. (Although he did scream at first.)

We actually thought it would be funny to put all 3 of the kids in the tub at once, although this will not be repeated again for quite a while. I tried tonight, and the success level was low, as far as protecting my baby from injury. (BTW, no way he fits in that baby tub now.)

And in the end he gets all cozy in a towel.

So there you have it, my tiny little newborn baby. I'm going to go kiss those cheeks right now.

Question Regarding Word Verification

They say it's to reduce "comment spamming." I would hate getting that, but every time I have to punch in the letters to make a comment somewhere I wonder about it. I turned off word verification several months ago, and no problems so far. Have any of you turned off your word verification and had problems with getting random comments from monkeys banging on keyboards? (Or whatever else.)

Andrew's Blessing

Andrew was blessed on the 17th of January. He looked big to be getting blessed, but he was only two and a half months . . . He was very excited for the event, or at least he didn't cry, so he seemed excited. It was a wonderful experience for me as a mother to have a reminder about how special this little boy is to our Heavenly Father, and what a big job we have to help him be all he can be. I mean that in a positive way. Here he is all dressed up for the occasion.


We were lucky enough to have several family members there for Andrew's special day, and we loved getting to be with them. Here are the pictures.

First, our little family. Poor Noah was exhausted since we have church from 1-4, so he needed lots of hugs.
Josh is just awesome.


The boys with Grandma and Grandpa (Gary's parents).
Andrew with Grandma and Grandpa (my parents).

Derreck, Jessica, Dallin, Martha, Deanne, Merrill


Aunt Sarah decided to provide Andrew with some tummy time. Yes, poor Aunt Sarah has a black eye and stitches. You can read the story here.


We thought it would be twice as cute to have twice the boys in the picture . . . until Noah chose his place. So typical of day to day life . . .


Andrew poses with Aunt Kayla and Aunt Martha.


Noah got over his tiredness to play crazy games with Uncle Eric.


Aunt Hannah at one point had "snakes" on her back named Josh and Tate.

Andrew with just his mommy and daddy.


Here's a picture of "the Marks." The Mark that started it all, Tate Mark, and Andrew Mark.


Andrew and Mom


Not pictured but attending were Cindy, Nate, Dave, Braden, Sophie, and Madeline. We missed Sara and Taylor and family because, good news, they had a new baby! You can see his cute self here. Congratulations to them . . . looks like we'll be getting together for one of these events again soon . . .

P.S. Getting used to the new blogger . . . pictures are a little all over for now. And what happened to spell check?