Happy Birthdee Lady Coach!

This is the picture I came up with when I google imaged "Lady Coach." Isn't it fabulous?

First, I'm sorry for going all Kanye on your b-day post Courtney but I do have to divert all of our attention for one minute to apologize to Dale. I missed his B-day post b/c everyone was out here for Thanksgiving and I got distracted but I've been meaning to do it ever since. I have a plan though. I haven't forgotten you, oh wisest among us kids. I will post for your b-day on a "specially appointed day" if you will...and I think you will. OK, sorry. Back to you, Taylor Swift. I mean Courtney.

To the younger, cuter version of me. The girl who has already or will tomorrow surpass every accomplishment I ever achieved in my life, why do you have to be so dang loveable? It'd be so much easier on my self esteem if we could balance your laundry list of ridiculously amazing strengths with some annoying trait or another. But you don't even have one. Even your perfection is endearing! How do you do it?

Ah, Coach. Let's recall some of your finer nicknames. Cutsey boots. Corky. Coco (I know, we are not all authorized to use this one, but I thought I'd throw it in for the sake of full disclosure). Shoot shoot, you're cute. Mommies. Curtains. Brothers Sisters Uncles Cousins Niece Nephew Mommies. Am I leaving any out?

I miss hanging out with you. And Felicity. And Thai food during mandatory law school graduation meetings. And sleepovers. And St. Patrick's Day. And Sunday Dinner. And Rice Pudding. And green rice krispie squares. And annoying Star Wars reinactments. And pretend drunken parties courtesy of orange creme sodas in glass bottles. And all of my male neighbors fawning all over you at my apartment. And Moogock. And 7 mile long post-it notes on my desk. And the Alien Baby. And my roommates wishing you'd move in and secretly probably liking you way better than they like me. And the world's most intense kick boxing glass followed by the nuzzle variation followed by a collapse on the floor in convulsions and laughter. And scotch...scotch scotch scotch, down down down, down into my belly. And Andrew's break up depicted in gruesome detail on my whiteboard. And only you and Natalie getting each other's jokes. And the blood drive. And pregnant male platupi. And teaching toddlers to say "Tiffany." And planning Matty's surprise B-day par-tay. And you being the first person I ever turned over full control of my baby to so I could go take my very first post baby nap. And you getting her to fall asleep when no one else could. I love you internally. :)

Mostly I miss you all the time. It kind of makes me want to sulk if I think about it too long. So hurry up and move here. Meanwhile, who remembers another Coach nick-name? Or another awesome memory that will make Courtney snort with laughter?

Happy B-day Coach. We love you. A lot.

Remodel

You may recognize this...it's where the fridge used to be...lovely, don't you think???


And this is the downstairs bathroom that used to be wine colored...


And...finally, the front and garage doors where wood flooring was previously.

It's a work in progress folks, but I can see it in my mind and it's breathtaking. The travertine will be ripped out shortly and replaced with a lighter version...but it is lovely. I mean who doesn't love doing dishes in the bathroom sink and walking by all the lovely new appliances in the living room? Can't wait to see it when it's done.

Folks, Folks, Merry Christmas!

I have the best Christmas present you all could ask for!

No, I will not be nannying for your children indefinitely...

No, it is of not of monetary value...

No, I will not be moving to Fresno, Dallas, or Queen Creek...

Instead, I am giving you all the link to my apartment blog! We've been spending the last couple weeks working on it and we're almost up to date. If you want the full effect (and I think you do Trebek), I would start at the bottom and work your way up instead of starting with the most recent and working backwards.

Enjoy:
http://apartment141.blogspot.com/

Xmas Vacation day one...

I went visiting teaching, got a phone call that things weren't going smoothly at home, ran home to find everyone yelling at each other. Scratched the plans to go out and find some fun crafts to do and made them clean their bathroom instead. Carter and Bella were fine...Jake and Malia freaked out. Nothing new. Carter got to have a friend over. They played Wii. Jake was practicing his clarinet (please get me some ear plugs and FAST!). The girls are doing ez bake and making a mess out of the kitchen. Lots of laundry folding to do...

So far, not my idea of a fun Christmas break. Maybe I should have another diet Coke...

Brittany is on a roll

OK, so if you haven't already read the post before this, read it first.

We were sitting here enjoying another family tradition (watching America's Funniest Videos). As we sat there, one of the kids on the TV hit another kid in the face. The girls asked why the boy said he was sorry. I said it was because he hit somebody in the face. I said we don't do that.

Brooke responded that we only do that to bad people when they are really bad.

Brittany then chimed in that we can kill bad people.

Wow, sounds like they have been taking their cues from one of my nieces who shall remain nameless that used to have some imaginary friends (until they "fell" off a building) and may or may not have bound and gagged her toys.

Family Traditions

So, this evening, Brittany, Brooke and I were carrying on one of the family traditions. We were making brownies. (No, that is not the family tradition.) Then, we licked the bowl. (THAT is the family tradition.) As I was getting ready to take my first lick, Brittany said, "It's brown like poop." Thanks for that Brittany. Thanks for being the only one in 30 some odd years who could make licking brownie batter less than exhilarating (except maybe for the time Justin and I licked the bowl when I used olive oil to make them).

Mackenzie is in love...

...with her baby sister. She doesn't want to put her down. She staggers into my room this morning and the first thing out of her mouth is "where's Charlie?"

Day 2 big obnoxious flower on my head. Everyone at the pediatrician's office this morning was in love with her~ can't blame them!

Welcome Home Charlie!!

The kids are excited to say the least! Kol keeps trying to share his teddy bear and blanket with her, and play hide and seek. Mackenzie and Stephen are fighting over who she looks like- Mackenzie says Charlie has her nose.

Stephen and I before we left NICU! Do we look dead tired or what and we haven't even gotten her home yet!

Exhibit B

A day in the life of Malia and I...

This morning, I woke Malia up. Her response was, "Why can't you just come back later?" Fair enough. I get the other kids out the door and then attempt to wake her up again. I told her that it was her Christmas party at preschool and asked if she wanted to get up so she could get ready. Her response was, "I'm just tired still. I'll go to the Christmas party next year."

Though I completely understood her willingness to give up some holiday party for another blessed hour of sleep, sorry kid, no can do today. Places to go, people to see. I picked her up, brought her downstairs, got her dressed and let her eat a cookie for breakfast to cheer her up. Elizabeth came to get her and she was clinging to me for dear life...but I put her in the car anyway.

She arrived home, having had a great time at preschool. I had to run to Costco to pick up some pictures. She saw someone walk out with a Barbie dollhouse and started asking to get one today. I told her not today and she proceeded to MELT DOWN. This is one of the first meltdowns I have seen from her in awhile. In my head, I'm thinking, this kid must be exhausted. I told her if she would stop, we could get a treat on the way out (aka my diet coke fix and something for her too...)She continued the whole time SCREAMING. Of course I couldn't get her (or me) a treat, so we walked out the door and she realizes she's not getting a treat. Now she really freaks out...ALL THE WAY HOME. When we get home, I pick her up, grab her blankets, and lay her down in my bed. She closes her eyes, puts her thumb in her mouth and goes to sleep. I lay down next to her and also doze off to dreamland. No words were said. We both knew she was tired. I was tired too...so, we simply took a nice little nap...until I was rudely awakened by pounding on the front door. You guessed it...Wednesday, early release. And so, Malia sleeps on as I referee between the other three.

Seriously, this kid just gets me...

Nana is here!!!

This is me- having my hearing tested. Good news- I can hear!

Isn't this such a great pic?

Yeah! Nana is here!

I'm sure you're getting sick of all my posts, so I'll try to cut back. Charlie is doing really great- she just needs to learn to eat (too bad I don't have that problem!!) Hopefully she'll get to come home on Thursday. I am so excited for her to get to meet her siblings- and aunts soon too!

Charlie Update

Look at my big baby yawn... I love this pic. It is so nice to see her face without it being covered with tape and tubes.

Charlie's IV in her foot went bad and her right leg is swollen because of it : ( So they had to put another one in. Her nurse today was fabulous and got it on her first stick! Check out her party hat (scalp IV).

This is daddy, changing Charlie's diaper for his first time (I went easy on him, no poop, just pee). Stephen was amazed at how fast she could get her baby hands in her diaper.
Charlie's first attempt at bottle feeding- didn't go so well. She only had to take 10cc but just couldn't. Even though she likes to suck on her pacifier, feeding is a lot more complicated. You have to remember to breath and swallow. She got too tired and started breathing to fast so we had to stop the feeding. She did much better with the second feeding- it took her about 25 minutes but she managed to take the whole 10 cc (with a little help from mom and dad).
The night nurse said Charlie took her entire 6 p.m. feeding. If she keeps this up, she could be home in a couple more days. Yeah!!

The horror of it all

Just thought I'd give u an idea of what Stephen got to go home and clean up today.

These are pics of the trail of bloody footprints I left while getting to the car. I was wearing several folded up towels as a make shift diaper at the time I walked out to the car.

The inside of my house looks like a crime scene- but I decided to spare you those pics.

Here are some pics of the little pain in the butt! She is a feisty one- wonder where she gets that.

Charlie extubated herself after being transferred to Chandler Regional NICU. She is suffering from a little respiratory distress due to prematurity. She got one dose of surfactant and remains on CPAP to help keep her little lungs inflated. Her respiratory rate remains high but she is not requiring oxygen now- yeah!

She has an OG tube (oral gastric tube) to help decompress her stomach because the CPAP fills her tummy with air. They aren't feeding her by mouth right now. She is getting fed through her IV (it took them 3 sticks to get one in her). Charlie is on 2 IV antibiotics just in case she has an infection. If her blood cultures are negative after 48 hours and she has no signs of infection they will take her off the abx.

The NICU nurse said Charlie is a sweet baby and loves her pacifier. Sweet! Put a cork in it baby!

I am so thankful for all of your prayers and concern. The last 24 hours have been a nightmare. I lost a considerable amount of blood and it is truly a miracle that Charlie and I survived the whole ordeal as well as we did. This is not the way I had planned her to arrive in this world, but let's be honest- she has been a bad baby from day 1 so why should I have expected anything different when she made her grand appearance on earth?

I can't wait to get out of this hospital so I can go see her at Chandler and hold her for the first time. Hopefully sometime tomorrow.

Why Malia and I get along...

It's morning...I leave her alone until the last minute possible. When I go to wake her up, she replies..."I'm not done sleeping yet."

I'm with ya sista...

I carry her downstairs and put her in the car to take the kids to school. We take the kids to school and get back. I turn on the t.v. for her, cover her up, and go upstairs to do my workout. She doesn't interrupt me...not once! I don't want to talk and neither does she...When I'm done, I get my diet Coke and she has some breakfast.

Later in the morning, if she's not at preschool, she'll generally say something like, "Mom, how about we go to the store and you can have a diet Coke and I'll have a treat." Great idea! (She is a well trained child...knows just where my soft spot is).

It is not uncommon in the afternoon for her to say, "Mom, I'm tired, let's go take a nap together." Are you kidding me? LOVE IT! We go upstairsFor and have a nice snooze...she doesn't try to talk to me, she just lays down (on my pillow, of course), and loves her blankies...one over her eyes and one where she can poke her little fingers through.

When I ask her if she's going to get dressed today (on a non-preschool day), she generally says, "Not today mom." I am a p.j. girl. I would never get dressed if it were up to me. There's nothing like some nice warm pajamas and a sweatshirt, especially in the winter...

On preschool days, she melts my heart when she says, "I don't want to go to school today, I just want to stay home with you." (Of course I make her go anyway). Some days after we drop the kids off, she'll say, "Yeah, now it's just me and you, all day."

For our surprise baby, Malia has been a very enjoyable child...we just understand one another. That's what makes me nervous...girlfriend has a mind of her own and is as stubborn as her mother. Heaven help us when she's a teen.

Almost there...

Today is the last day of the challenge that I have been doing for 12 weeks. It has been a thorn in my side, but also good for me. I have had to read my scriptures for 15 minutes every day. I haven't done that so faithfully since my mission. I'm grateful that it is now a habit for me. I put the scriptures on my ipod and I listen to them as I walk in the morning or drive places. It is a fabulous multi tasking tool. And...it gives me something to think about without the distraction of kids running through as I'm trying to read. I have exercised 45 minutes six times a week for the last 12 weeks. That has been good for me too...I think I will try to keep that up too. What I'm not going to keep up? The no diet Coke. Rick even told me he thinks I should start drinking it again. He said it makes me happier and more productive. I agree. Don't judge people. Everybody has their happy place...you know, shopping, exercise, reading...mine just happens to be diet Coke. I have already put one int he fridge for tomorrow so after my walk I can start the day off right. Boo yeah! I'm looking forward to waking up! So, thanks Dionne for starting it and I'm so glad to be finishing it!

Humility...

Malia asked me the other day, "Mom, what did you look like when you were a girl?" I replied, "a little bit like you." She answered, "You looked like me, and you didn't have spots all over?" (She was referring to my freckles). I said, "Well, I looked like you, but with spots." Malia, "Oh." And she walked away.

It's funny because I don't think of myself as having freckles but I really do...a lot of them. Nothing like a kid to point out the forgotten obvious...