Two!

So, about 6 months ago our little guy had a birthday.  I love looking back at the blog at special events in our lives so I'm posting these pictures even though they are from forever ago.

NOAH!

This little guy stole his mom's heart the moment he arrived and melts it pretty much every day with his sweet little personality.  

Look how ecstatic he is about these candles!  He was so excited for it to be his special day!  He got a tiny bit bummed out when his blows didn't seem too effective (all the air goes straight up to his eyebrows instead of forward) so we hurried and helped him out.

We had gourmet pancakes for his birthday dinner (trying to find something this little guy would love) and a chocolate cookie cake (he's not a big fan of the typical kind) for dessert.

Presents were hilarious!  He opened and sound-making, go-on-its-own car from Jay, Brynn, and Maddi first and it completely captivated his attention.  He held it for the rest of the night and had only one hand available for the rest of his presents (tool set, bear, skooty, stroller, cooking set)!

 

Here's the folks who helped him celebrate his big day:

Sarai's First Week (or so) "By the Numbers"

Here's a summary of Sarai's first week (plus some) of life "By the Numbers" (like the segment on Nightline) and a ton of pictures finally (click on the collages for a larger view)!

69: # of hours Sarai got to spend at home before going to the E.R. at Primary Children's

12: approximate # of hours spent crying by Sarai's mom during their hospital stay (most of which occurred in the first 24 hours)

10: approximate # of hours slept by Sarai's mom in the 72 hours surrounding Sarai's birth and hospitalization

12: approximate # of gowned, gloved, and masked doctors and nurses in Sarai's room upon her arrival in the PICU (freaky!)

20: # of hours straight that Sarai was too lethargic to eat anything

2: # of rooms in the PICU that Sarai stayed in

2: # of days spent in the PICU

7: # of days spent by Sarai in the hospital

11: # of visitors Sarai had in the hospital

5: # of wires coming off Sarai while in the PICU

3: average # of wires coming off Sarai while on the regular floor

 7: approximate # of times new IV's had to be started in Sarai's hands before she got her PICC line

2: # of lumbar punctures Sarai endured

79: # of labs done on fluids taken from Sarai

45: # of IV antibiotic doses given to Sarai in the hospital

3: # of antibiotics Sarai was on in the hospital

1: # of MRI's Sarai recieved

2: # of times Sarai was sedated for a procedure

4: # of failed attempts to insert Sarai's PICC line without surgical procedures

1: # of times fluoroscopy had to be used to insert a successful PICC line in Sarai's arm

15: approximate # of nurses who watched over Sarai in 12 hour shifts

2: # of teams of doctors involved in Sarai's care at all times

3: # of doctors on each team at any given time

3: # of times Sarai's mom got to leave the hospital to go home and shower

2: maximum # of consecutive hours of sleep for Sarai's mom

0: # of days it didn't snow while Sarai was in the hospital
13: # of temples in which Sarai's name was on the prayer roll

Thousands!: approximate # of prayers said for Sarai

9: # of dinners brought to Sarai's family after her birth

12: # of days at home with PICC line in Sarai's arm

39: # of IV antibiotic doses given to Sarai at home

1: # of antibiotics Sarai was on at home

2: approximate # of pounds gained by Sarai since her birth in the first four weeks of her life!

Despite the above list having some pretty gloomy numbers, after the first day (during which my eyelids were so swollen and purple from crying and not sleeping that they sort of resembled bruised hot dogs) we felt very peaceful knowing that the outcome of our hospital stay was truly in God's hands and that whatever the outcome would be was what he intended for Sarai and our family.  I was overwhelmed by feelings of gratitude for the little daily miracles we saw, most of which had nothing to do with Sarai's medical progress.  We felt (and continue to feel) truly blessed. 

Pictures of Sarai & Family Before the Hospital:

Pictures of Sarai & Family at the Hospital:

Pictures of Sarai at home before Eden & Noah got back:

Here's what life was like while we had to do the IV at home:

There's me in my sterile stuff getting ready to do the IV; there's Sarai showing off here PICC line after a bath; and there's all the stuff set out to do the IV every 6 hours.

Pictures of Sarai & Family since Eden and Noah's return:

For more pictures of what Eden and Noah were up to while Sarai was in the hospital visit here: http://lillypadgoodtimes.blogspot.com/2011/04/very-busy-and-fun-time.html

Happy Birthday Little One!

I'm not going to put all the details on this blog because it is not private (if you want more info just e-mail me), but just wanted to announce that our little sweetie arrived about a week ago!  Her name is Sarai, which comes from the Bible (it was Abraham's wife's name before it was changed to Sarah) and means "Princess". 

She was born at home at about 4:30 a.m. and everything went perfectly.  She was 7 lbs. 2 oz. and 21 inches long.  From the time we knew she was on her way until she made her entrance was only about 4 1/2 hours long.  She was born in a birthing pool and I put this next picture in so you can sort of see part of it because everyone seems interested in what exactly that is like.    

I was only in it for the last 1/2 hour and wore a swim dress.  Being in the water was really comfy.  I sort of fell asleep in there between contractions, even the last ones in between pushes.  I don't have a lot of pictures because we are not at home right now (more on that later), but will post more later.  I think she came out looking completely "unsquished"--so pretty! 

Eden got to see her moments after she was born.  The kids were both sleeping peacefully until about the time I got in the pool and could tell things were getting to the end.  Eden somehow must have known and came out of her room.  She wouldn't go back to bed and just hung around in the entry (we were in the living room) for a half hour until her sister arrived and she was able to come see her.  She was a little nervous for a minute and then really excited and so in love.  Pretty cool. 

Eden ended up waking Noah up around 5:30 or 6 and convincing him to get out of bed and come see the baby.  He was totally out of it and not really interested and went back to be immediately.  Even the next day he was much more excited about the little stuffed dog that Sarai gave him than in Saria herself.  So funny.  Pretty big difference between him and Eden who just could not get enough of her new baby!

Noah & Lance

I was looking through my old family pictures a couple of months ago and was a bit surprised when I found this one of me at about Noah's age (its actually the only picture I have of myself before age four I believe).  I thought I would post it to let people decide if Noah looks like me?  What do you think?   I think it's kind of crazy.

click on the image for a larger more crisp view.

(Posted by Lance, even though it says by Julene at the bottom)

Polly is on Her Way!

In case you didn't notice the trendy ticker in the upper-right hand corner of this fab blog, here it is:  we are having a baby!  We got the ultrasound a few weeks ago and decided to show the DVD of it to Eden and Noah for F.H.E.  Eden was not impressed.  She didn't think "the good part" (when we saw the face, profile, hands, feet, and gender rather than measurements of the head circumference, etc.) was very good, wanted us to turn on the sound, wanted Daddy to move the mouse, and wanted us to start the game already!  I think the printed out pictures would have gone over a whole lot better.  However, she was 100% satisfied to learn the baby is apparently a GIRL!  Here she is pointing it out:

Here she is looking ecstatic about the news while all Noah is thinking about is how to steal that alligator from Eden without getting pounded:

Here she is enumerating all the reasons why it is a darn good thing the ultrasound was "right" ("We already have a baby boy!  One brother is enough!  We need a sister!  I will be her best friend!") while Noah is just looking rather clueless about all this business, but happy to pose with Eden:

Eden decided that the baby's name will be Polly.  Jay and Brynn have already started referring to her as such.  Here are a few pictures of her two namesakes:

(The above are two pictures of Angelina Ballerina and her baby sister, Polly, and Froggy with his baby sister, Polly.)

Tofurkey Anyone?

I decided a few months ago NO MORE BLOG!...But, my mom thought that was a lame idea and since I started this thing in the first place so she could see pictures of her grandkids...I guess I have to give in.  Kind of funny that the first pictures I would put up here with the resumption of the blog would be ones she was there to see live...oh, well.  Can you beat Thanksgiving hiking pictures from St. George?  Look at all that blue sky!

We were welcomed back to Bountiful (days after these pictures were taken in Snow Canyon) by about a foot of snow.  I indulged in tears for only ten seconds as we pulled onto our street. 

Also waiting for us upon our return was a turkey I'd had thawing in the fridge while we were gone.  Eden pulled up a chair next to the kitchen sink while I got our bird ready for the oven.  This is what I heard while I washed it and rubbed it down with spices:  "Mommy, is that our turkey?  Is it dead?  Did you kill it?  Why did you kill it?  Is that water going to make it grow big?  What is that?  It's neck?  Why is it dead?  Where's it's head?  Is that it's leg?  Who killed it?  Poor turkey...!"  Suddenly the tofurkey (fake turkey made of tofu) this vegan hair stylist was telling me about wasn't sounding too bad.   It was just about enough to make me turn vegetarian!  Could you have handled that!?

Dinner At Our House

Anyone with kids can probably relate to the pictures on this post.  How much eating is actually going on at dinner time anyway?

Whenever Noah sees the 5 pound block of Tilamook Medium Cheddar, his little piece is no longer sufficient! He must have the entire thing all to himself.  I've given in a time or two, let him gnaw away to his heart's content and then cut off all the contaminated parts for him to enjoy later--not everyone else!  He also thinks he needs the Costco-size thing of Parmesan.  He managed to get it open the other day and shake, shake, shake!  Check out his cheesy eyelashes! 

Wolverine's spawn?  No, just little Eden-bug.  Isn't she terrifying?  Food that fits on fingers is the best!  She also loves having "rings on fingers, rings on thumbs"* made from olives.

*From one of our favorite books: Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb