One Month... Already?!

I can't believe Laurel is already a month old. Time has surely flown by!! Laurel is very strong already! Her accomplishments for this month are: she can hold her head up without support, she rolled over from her back to her stomach (I think this might have been on accident but we are going to count it anyway), she focuses very well on objects, and she is starting to smile. Of course I can never catch a smile on camera!

Leila, Cole, and Lilly just love her! I constantly have to tell Lilly to leave Laurel alone. Lilly loves to get in her face to give her kisses or put her pacifier in her mouth. She is such a great big sister but is sometimes a little rough (not meaning to be). Lilly calls her LaLa. The other day I put Laurel on the couch and asked Cole to sit with her for a minute while I changed Lilly's diaper. When I came back in the room Laurel was no longer on the couch. She was in her bouncy seat in front of the tv. I freaked out and asked Cole why he moved her and he innocently said because she wanted to watch Rachael Ray. I couldn't be mad at him for too long because that was just too cute and Laurel obviously wasn't hurt.

Laurel 1 month old!

on her blessing day

pretty in pink

our Christmas card picture. we couldn't get Lilly to put down my phone!

she looks huge in this picture! well I guess all but her legs! she has the skinniest chicken legs!

I am so happy our little girl is doing much better now! When she was born she weighed 6lbs 10oz. Then one week later she weighed 6lbs. 12oz. At her two week check up a week later she weighed 8lbs 8oz. I just weighed her myself today and she weighed 10.5lbs. What a little chunker!! She is starting to sleep a little longer at night. She slept for 4 hrs straight last night. I got some much needed sleep!! I am so thankful for all of my children and I just love them so much!!

Trauma...Drama...and the ER

My mom and Laurel

Poor baby girl!

My first time being able to hold Laurel. 3 days old.

Laurel under the oxygen hood.

Home from the hospital!!!

Daddy with all of his babies!

Mommy and Laurel

Mommy with all her babies.

I have definitely had my fill of hospitals for awhile! This week has been extremely CRAZY!!! My sister Brianne and her daughter Claire came on Sunday from Slidell. At about 9pm Claire fell off the recliner and ended up having to go to the ER just about the same time that my mom got here at about 1am. They didn't get home from the hospital until 4am and Claire ended up having a mild concussion.

I had to be at the hospital at 6:30 that morning to be induced. They actually didn't start hooking me up to everything until about 8am. We figured we would have the baby by lunch time according to how my other deliveries went. The doctor came in and broke my water at about 9:30am and I was about 2cm. When they broke my water there was alot of blood that came out and they said that there shouldn't be blood like that yet. Everytime they checked me to see how far along I was they would get alot of blood on the glove and the baby's heart rate would go down. At around 11 am the nurses came in and saw that the baby's heart rate was still down and that she really wasn't moving at all. They talked to the doctor and decided to prep me for a c-section. The doctor came back around 12:15 or so because things just weren't progressing like he wanted them to. I was 8cm at that time and they decided to take me off of the pitocin and the epidural pump to see if the baby would start perking up again. A little while later I had about 12 nurses and the doctor in the room with me. The doctor told me that he was going to have to do the c-section. One of the nurses knew I didn't want to have a c-section and asked him if I could try pushing even though I was only at 8cm still. The doctor agreed and said I had to really start pushing good and was only going to give me 1 set of pushes because the baby was in distress and needed to come out now. I pushed really hard for about 10 minutes and at 1:40pm she finally came. Roy cut the cord and they wisked her away to take care of her. She was very blue and not crying. They took her to the NICU without us being able to hold her or take pictures of her. Roy and I were histarical! The doctor couldn't figure out where all the bleeding came from. He said the placenta looked in tact but he decided to send it off to the pathologist to make sure. At around 3:30pm the neonatalogist came in to speak to us. It just so happened that Roy and my mom left to get something to eat and I was in the room by myself. He told me that they syphoned alot of blood out of her stomach and needed to be put on some antibiotics and that they were going to run some tests to look for internal bleeding. I asked when she would be able to come back to the room and he said we would have to go see her in the NICU. I started balling crying I was so upset. My mom and Roy came in just then and asked what was wrong and I could barely tell them. We had a few visitors from church come that night and I felt alot better at that point!! I was discharged the next day but had to leave Laurel in the NICU. It was a very hard thing to do!! We talked to the Neonatalogist again and they found that she has a heart murmur. They did an echocardiogram on her and found that she also has Ventricular Septal Defect (VSD) which is causing the heart murmur. This is a hole in the heart that seperates the left and right ventricles. This can cause the lungs to get flooded with blood and liver problems. They told us to look for choking spells and fast breathing. They said it usually closes by itself by 12-18 months but if it doesn't they would have to do surgery on it to close up the hole. So now I am freaked out anytime she coughs or makes a funny noise.

Tuesday night my mom could barely walk across the room so we convinced her that she needed to go to the ER or urgent care. She finally gave in and Roy took her to an urgent care by our house at about 8:30pm. They got home around midnight that night and my mom found out that she has digenerative disk disease.

Now onto the gross part! If you have a queezy stomach you should skip this part!!! On Friday night I went to the bathroom and got really freaked out! I called my mom into the bathroom because I seriously thought my uterus was coming out. She called Brianne into the bathroom to see if it looked like a blood clot to her. Brianne said yes but my mom grabbed one of those red solo cups and said try and get it out and we will see how big it is. I got it out and it ended up being bigger than a softball. Brianne said it definitely didn't look like a blood clot and that I should go to the ER. So down to the ER we went for trip #3. My mom made me bring the cup to the hospital and I am kindof gladI did. They looked at it and knew it wasn't a blood clot and thought it was part of the placenta. They drew blood to see how much blood I had lost. They were also going to do an ultrasound. They talked to my doctor and said that he wasn't surprised that it was part of the placenta. Hello! You can hemmorage to death if they leave something in there!! Anyway they decided not to do the US and to send me home! Hope everything is out!

Everyone left on Sunday without getting to hold Laurel! They just got to look at her through the window of the NICU. We finally got to bring Laurel home yesterday (Monday). The kids just love her to death. I was very nervous that Lilly was going to be very jealous of Laurel. But she loves her so much and is constantly wanting to touch her and kiss her. I am so thankful that Laurel is home and we can finally start the rest of our lives together as one big happy family!!

Dinosaur Day

I forgot to post these in my last post. The Texas Energy Museum had Dinosaur Day this morning. The kids had fun making fossils, digging for dinosaurs, making dinosaur claws, and painting skeletons. They decorated the outside with lots of dinosaurs! They had a bunch of other activities but it was a little crowded and my patience ran thin very quick!

Well, hopefully my next post will be pictures of Laurel Jane!! I cannot believe she will be here no later than 2 weeks from now!

Family visit, Cole's bday, Halloween

I have been way behind on my blogging. Partly because I am lazy and because I couldn't find the cord to the camera. So now it is time to play catch up! My pictures are out of order but I didn't feel like fixing them so oh well!! The first group of pictures are of Leila and Cole dressed up for Halloween. Leila is Belle, Cole is Buzz Lightyear, and Lilly is Raggedy Ann. We went to our church's Trunk or Treat last night and our going to go Trick or Treating at HEB tonight. The kids have had so much fun wearing their costumes!!

The next set of pictures are of Cole's birthday party. We celebrated last weekend with all of his friends. The theme was Superhero/ Halloween. Cole wanted it to be Superheroes but he also wanted to dress up in his costume. So we decided to combine them. He got lots of new toys! The kids had fun eating ghost shaped PB&J sandwiches, mummy pigs in a blanket, pumpkin and cat shaped rice krispy treats, veggies, fruit, and of coarse cupcakes and ice cream. I think the kids enjoyed dressing up in their costumes! We also made ghost tootsie roll pops and decorated pumpkins. All in all I think the party was a big success!

The last section of pictures are of a couple of weeks ago when Roy's parents and sister came into town. We ended up going to Houston for a day. We had fun going to Storybook Park, riding the trolley, and riding the water taxi. The kids really enjoy when family come in to town! They really miss all of their cousins!!! We also celebrated Cole's birthday with them while they were here.

My sad attempt at decorating the cake!

Madison and Lilly playing

Riding the water taxi

Storybook park

Hopefully I can be better at posting pictures that way you don't get them all in one big long blog!

Baby Laurel

Just an update on Laurel. I went to the doctor yesterday and the doctor said the head was way down. He didn't check me to see if I was dialated even though I told him I have been having some contractions off and on and according to my original due date I am 37 weeks. Oh and he will be out of town for the next week and a half. Weird! He felt her head by just feeling my stomach. I don't know how he knows what the heck he is feeling in there. He also said that when he measured my belly it was measuring 37 which goes right along with the original due date. I tried telling him I know my body and there is now way I am due November 23rd. Anyway he said if I haven't gone into labor by myself he would induce on the 16th. I am soooooo ready! I ask Lilly every now and then where is baby Laurel and she will lift up her shirt and point to her belly. She is so funny!

Our funny of the day...

Ok so I stole this idea from my sister Brianne but thought it was too cute to pass up. We were eating dinner last night and here is how our conversation went... Leila-I am going to sleep under my bed tonight. Cole- I can't sleep under my bed, my butt is way too big! I felt bad for him but at the same time it was so hilarious! I almost spit out my bite of food!!

Leila's 5th Birthday Celebration

I cannot believe my little girl will be 5 on the 9th. She is growing up WAY too fast! She is such a great big sister and helper. She loves to help me fold clothes. I love this because I hate to fold laundry!! She loves to entertain Lilly for me too! She surprises me everyday! The other day out of the blue she came up to me and spelled moon, star, sun, Leila, Cole, Lilly, Dad, Mom, dog, cat, foot, and a couple of other words. She must figured it out completely on her own because Roy and I have shamefully only taught her how to spell our names. She LOVES to dance. We are going to start dance classes this year. As soon as I get off my butt and register her for dance classes.

We had cake and ice cream to celebrate Leila, Roy, and Madison's birthdays when Roy's parents and sisters came a couple of weeks ago but had a party with her friends yesterday. Leila had such a great 5th birthday party! She wanted to have a princess theme party so I made invitations to send out and told the girls to wear princess dresses and the boys to wear knights costumes if they had them. I made knight's costumes out of grey fleece and gold ribbon. I think they turned out really cute and I think all the boys enjoyed having a costume to wear like the girls. Most of the girls wore their own princess dresses but I had extra princess dresses just in case. The decorations were pretty simple. I decorated all the doorways in the house with 3 different colored crepe paper and pink balloons. I also hung upside down balloons in the entry way.

I planned on having the party outside so we set up 2 tables outside to decorate crowns and swords. It was extremely hot outside and halfway through decorating the crowns it started to thunder. So I decided to go ahead and do all the outside activities first. We played a Snow White apple picking game and hid apples on the fence for the kids to find. I told them that the wicked queen hid a poison apple and they had to find it before Snow White got to it. I think they enjoyed this game.

After the Snow White game we went ahead and did the pinata. We bought a princess pinata (we wanted a dragon so they could slay the dragon but couldn't find one) and filled it with lots of goodies. The kids each took a turn until it fell down and at that point I just ripped it open and spread the candy all over.

While we were doing the pinata Roy and our friend Mike picked up the tables and chairs and brought them inside before it started to rain. I had all the kids come in and we played Kiss the Frog Prince (like pin the tail on the donkey). Roy drew a frog prince on a piece of poster board and I colored it. I cut out lips and wrote names on them. I blind folded each kid and they took a turn putting their lips on the frog trying to get closest to his lips. I think this game was a big hit!! Most of the boys were being silly and wanted to really kiss the frog. It was pretty funny! When the game was done they each got a (Hershey's) kiss back from the frog.

Next the kids all sat at the table and ate a snack of chips, fruit, and juice. Then came the cupcakes. I thought the cupcakes turned out really cute! I bought a cupcake stand from Joanne's Superstore. I just bought a princess pack of cupcake liners and little crowns to go on the top of them.

Leila opened her presents next. I set up the rocking chair that was in Lilly's room as Leila's throne to open presents on. Leila really felt like she was a little princess! I know my kids had a great time at the birthday party and I hope the other kids had fun too!

Leila on her birthday throne opening her presents.
Kiss the Frog Prince
Lilly, Sydney, and Mike enjoying a cupcake
The kids eating their snacks
Leila trying to figure out how to blow out her candle.
The girls decorating their princess crowns.
The boys decorating their crowns.
This is the best picture I got of most of the kids. There are a couple of kids missing.
Leila opening her presents with Nana and Papa.
Madison, Leila, and Roy blowing out their candles.

Summer Vacation

We had a wonderful time at my parents house in Utah for vacation! We left on Saturday the 15th and came back on Friday the 21st. It was a very short trip but we had non stop fun!! My mom picked us up from the airport and on the way to her house we stopped by Ryan's apartment to see his family. We ended up going out to eat at Zuppa's. It was so good! They have soups, salads, and sandwiches. I got the California Turkey sandwich and a cup of wild mushroom soup. YUMMY!!! After we ate we just went back to my mom's house and pretty much just went to bed. We were pretty tired!!

Sunday we went to church with my mom and dad and after church Ryan and Adrienne's families came over and we ate roast. The kids had so much fun playing together!

Monday we met Adrienne and the kids at McDonald's and ate lunch. After lunch we went to the Lehi pool. It is a couple of pools with some water slides and a lazy river. Cole was too afraid to go down the big slide but I took Leila down it and she had so much fun! Tristan and Ana came later to swim with us. We didn't stay very long because Adrienne had to go to work and the kids were pretty worn out from swimming! That night we went out to eat at NYPD Pizza with Ryan and Sandra. The pizza was ok and the service was horrible.

Tuesday I went with my mom to her preop appointment. (She had surgery on her knee again this last Monday.) We got back and waited for dad to get off work and then met Tristan and Ana at Costco for a hot dog. Then we took a drive to Cascade Springs in the mountains. It was so beautiful!! The kids had fun looking for waterfalls and looking at all the water made from melted snow. They liked looking for fish in the water too! That night I think all we did was eat chinese chicken salad at my mom's house.

Wednesday we dropped the kids off at Ryan and Sandra's house so we could go to the Salt Lake Temple. It was so beautiful inside!! I was so glad that Sandra babysat for us so we could go, but wish she could have gone too! After the temple we picked up the kids and went to eat at Mimi's with Adrienne and Ryan's families. The kids were soooo crazy! Partly because they told us it was a 30 minute wait and it ended up being more like an hour wait. Ryan and Sandra invited Leila and Cole to spend the night with them that night. It was such a nice break for us. That was the first time they had ever spent the night somewhere else besides Roy's parents house. They had such a fun time with Max and Luke! Leila just adores Mia too!

Thursday we met Sandra and ate at Iceburg in Salt Lake. They have the best milkshakes! After lunch we went to the outlet mall in Park City. Ryan met us there and picked up Roy and the boys to go play golf. We didn't know this at the time but the golf course doesn't allow children on the course. So Roy and Ryan didn't get to play! I felt really bad! Mom and dad left the outlet mall before Sandra and I. Sandra and I left the outlet mall to go to Quilted Bear. It is this awesome store that kind of reminds me of a flea market. A bunch of different vendors set up their own booths and sell hand crafted things. We got there a 7pm and they close at 7pm. I was so upset!! We just went back to mom and dad's and ate corn on the cob, watermelon, cantaloupe, salad, and some leftover stuff.

Friday, on the way to the airport, mom and dad drove us to Quilted Bear so I could take a look around. I was so glad I was able to go! I absolutely love that store!! Then they dropped us off at the airport for our 1:30pm flight. I really did not want to leave! We finally got home at about 9pm. Roy's parents came to our house at about midnight. We really didn't stay up because we were all really tired!

Saturday we woke up and I made bacon, eggs, and waffles. Then the girls went to Target and the boys went to Lowe's. That night I made chicken tetrazini (sp?) and a birthday cake. We celebrated Roy, Leila, and Madison's birthdays. Their birthdays are all really close together. Leila's is the 9th, Roy's is the 15th, and Madison's is the 18th of September. After cake they opened their presents. Leila was so excited to get new shoes, pajamas, a barbie car, barbie jeep, a Hannah Montana barbie, a shirt, a hat, and some money.

Sunday Roy had to be at church a little early to meet with someone about a new calling. He was called to be the financial clerk. He is really excited about this calling! He was the financial clerk in Slidell and thinks that it is the best calling ever!! We only stayed for Sacrament Meeting because Roy's parents were going to be leaving and they were watching Leila and Cole for us.

We had such a great time with all of our family! We wish we all lived closer together so we could spend more time with each other!

Olivia and Leila

Our view coming home from Cascade Springs
My dad, Ana and the kids at Cascade Springs

Tristan, Leila, and Cole on an abandoned tractor by my parent's house.
Cole inside the bucket.
Almost all the boy cousins. The only one we are missing is Timmons. Back row: Andrew and Cameron. Front Row L to R: Cole, Luke, Parker, Sawyer, Max, and Taylor.
Some of the girl cousins. Olivia, Mia, Leila, and Lilly
Waiting to board our airplane. Lilly was so hyper at that time!

Roy Update

So Roy finally got in to do his EEG that he was supposed to do back in May but the doctor's office canceled the appointment. He set up his follow up appointment and the earliest time they had open was in October so he went ahead and scheduled it. They called back the next day and said that his doctor wanted him to come in earlier than that. So we set up an appointment for August 31. This last Monday we got another phone call from the doctor's office saying they have an opening for the next day so we took it. We were very nervous for this appointment because they were so anxious to get him in. The doctor went over his EEG and MRI and said that the spots he has on his brain are called mesial temporal sclerosis. Which he said is basically scar tissue. The only thing that Roy can remember ever happening to him that would cause scar tissue is when he was 3 he hit his head on the coffee table and about 8 years ago he was in a car accident. The doctor said neither of those incidents would have caused the scar tissue where it is so we are still stumped. The doctor did say that if he continues to have seizures he can increase his dosage on his current meds and if they continue after that there is 1 more medicine they can try. If he still has them after that they can perform surgery to remove that area of his brain. He said that the scar tissue is in an area that can easily be removed or there is another surgery they can try. They would put something in him that he described would be like a pace maker. He said after the surgery about 70% of seizure patients don't have seizures anymore. We are very pleased that we finally got some answers on what the "spots" are on his brain. (even if we don't know how they got there.) We are also very happy to hear that he would be a candidate for surgery if need be.

Playing Catch Up!

The past few weeks have been kind of crazy around here. Our friends Mike and Lisa from Slidell came to visit for a couple of days. The kids had a really good time playing with Carson and Sydney. After they left the kids have been busy trying to keep cool in our 100+ heat. They go swimming every Wednesday and Friday at friends houses from church. We are so thankful to have friends that so graciously let us hang out at their pool for play group.

Lilly turned 1 on June 26th. I feel really bad that I didn't have a birthday party for her! Oh well! We went to Houston on June 23rd-25th and stayed in a hotel because Roy had meetings. I took the kids to Chuck E Cheese to sort of celebrate Lilly's birthday. Anyway when we came home from Houston we got Lilly an ice cream cake and let her open her presents. She got a Willa Nilla doll, a little puppy (when you pet its back it barks and wags its tail), and a stroller that will help her walk. She likes the box that the stroller came in much better. I could have saved some money by just giving her a box! At Lilly's 1 year doctor's appointment, the doctor told us that he wants us to go see the Pediatric Neurologist because when he checked her reflexes she over reacted with her right leg. She did the same thing at her 9 month appointment. He just wants us to see if this is something we need to be concerned about. He was very excited about all of the things she has accomplished since her 9 month appointment though. She has started crawling, climbing on things, pulling up on everything, and she is now starting to cruise along the couch. She also has started babbling alot. She can say momma, dadda, bobba, and a bunch of other babble sounds. She also sings when music comes on. She sounds like Ariel from The Little Mermaid. We are so thankful for these accomplishments! We were so concerned that she wouldn't be able to do anything since it took her so long to even sit up or crawl. Lilly has brought us so much joy in the last year and I don't know what we would do if we didn't have her. She is going to be such a good big sister! (I hope!) She will have to share all her toys and clothes when her little sister Laurel comes in November.

Here are some pictures of when Carson and Sydney came to visit and of Lilly's birthday. Sorry about the sideways pictures. I was too lazy to turn them the right way!

Leila, Cole, Carson, and Sydney
Watching a movie with Carson and Sydney
Lilly loving her birthday cake
Lilly climbed on the chair all by herself so she can relax.
Lilly got a walker/stroller but she would rather play with the box.
Lilly sneaking a bite of her cake while we were singing to her.