Easter Fun and more

okay i started this post a while ago and finally getting around to finishing







Okay so we are trying to get back in the swing of things around here. I thought it would be fun to enjoy easter celebrations and especially wanted Lizzy to know we hadn't forgot about her and she deserves to enjoy holidays!. So we painted eggs, crashed our old wards easter egg hunt, even though there were as always tons of kids and lizzy didn't even get one egg on the hunt. But her good friend Emma came to her rescue and shared some 'treats' with her, because that is the only thing she cares about. Then we did an easter egg hunt at home! i think overall we had a nice weekend, and even got my sister-in-law to take some pics of my kiddos! Thanks Brookie! and i know trying to get a 3 yr old and newborn to look at the same time let alone smile or have eyes open is extremely challenging.

Caleb Christopher is here!

Hard to believe it has been almost a week since he came. WE wait and wait and wait, and then he came and time has flown by. Caleb arrived Tues. March 31, 2009 at 4:46am. He weighed 8lbs and 9ozs. 20 inches. dark blue eyes and light hair like lizzy had. So he is probably gonna be another toe head. He is adorable and just perfect! WE are SOOOO excited he is here.

Okay i have to give some details of his arrival, so fair warning to skip this paragraph if you don't want to know the "details". So i had been having braxten hick contractions all weekend, so going to bed Monday night i was having a few contractions that were stronger than they had been, but not regular at all. I'd wake up every couple hours, or 30, 20, or 15 mins. but never constant. I'd wake up and wonder for a minute if this was it, but fall back asleep. So figure it wasn't gonna happen too soon. (However my last dr. appointment on the 26th i was dilated to a 4 and the dr. said she thought i'd go fast, so not to wait to long at home. Not more than 10 min contractions for an hour. So i was kind of waiting for that gauge. It never came I went from sporadic to waking at 3:30 with constant pain. It wasn't a contraction that let up so i wasn't sure. i just felt like i had to go to the bathroom, but i couldn't sit or stand. i called the dr. but she said it was up to me. So i waited another 10 mins or so and decieded it was time, meanwhile Lizzy came in asking for her binky and then wondering why all the lights were on. Cj went to get Lizzy's glasses and I went to sit on the toilet and felt a bulge, which i'm sure was the water sac, but freaked me out completely. So we hurried a little faster, I called my sister(who happened to be sleeping in her car, another long story) but a blessing cause she was able to meet us at the hospital to take Lizzy quickly. So the timeline was we woke at 3:30, decided to go to the hospital just after 4. On the was to the hospital my contractions became normal and i was having them 2 to 3 minutes apart. So even the first time it stopped i felt fine and questioned myself, but then it hit again of course no doubts. in the car i really was tring not to show too much pain, but nearly impossible, Lizzy kept asking what was happening and if the baby was kicking too hard, and would tell the baby to stop hurting mommy. (so sweet of her) We got there in 10 mins arriving at 4:35, i walked into the ER.(in between another contraction so i felt fine and asked for OB and they took there sweet time getting someone down there. Well it seemed like forever, when the contraction hit again. So she wheeled me up to OB which was a very painful ride, that Cj says i was screaming in the elevator, i just recal groaning very loudly. So they took me in the room, told me to put a gown on, i barely could throw my clothes off fast enough. Then i got on the chair, the nurse checked me, and didn't say anthing. So i was like what am i, then she responded," Oh you're a 10 and ready to have this baby." So they kept saying page the dr. (thankfully she was already at the hospital) and Cj remembers it taking forever and nurses bumping into each other. I just wanted it to stop! So the dr. got there, gloves on, water sac exploded (i'm serious) I was laying on the bed and saw Water go flying, then the dr. saying okay water broke and you can push the next contraction. Now i guess i have to admit, I screamed! I'm not usually a screamer, but there was no where else for the pain to go, i had to let it out. I think Cj was a little shocked, I think i was too, but after a looooong push or two He came out.And then it is just amazing, to have that little guy there, real, crying, healthy, a relief for sure!!! Okay so a few days before i have to admit, I told Cj i was curious to know what a natural birth would be like. So i guess i asked for it, but i'm just glad it was fast. Pain can be endured quickly, but if i was in labor for hours like that, wow that is a whole different ball game. The pros were definetly that it was fast, (relative i guess)
no needles (iv or anything) I HATE NEEDLES.
I didn't feel drugged after, and actually felt pretty good, the pain hit the next day more.
CJ was home and not working far away,
Lizzy woke on her own right when we needed to go. i may have tried waiting till Misty got to our house.
Misty was sleeping in the car that night and got there fast.
MOST of all Caleb is perfect, a sweet baby, that is so far sleeping and eating fantastic.
And quick delivery means no birth canal deformaties. He does have smashed ears(on the top of each ear, the pediatrician thinks is from being squished in there so well, but will eventually be normal.

Well that was definetly the long version, but i had to make sure i got it in writing.
My parents came wed. night and were sooooo helpful. With food, taking Lizzy out and chasing her (her favorite game that she NEVER tires of)
Lizzy LOVES her brother. Always wants to hold him and help change him. She took the role of picking out his clothes, which i have a feeling may never stop. As long as she helps him look good, i guess he'll love it. (i'm a little jealous though cause she never lets me pick out her clothes and now i don't even get to pick out Caleb's either.
We are all doing great, i'm starting to feel fairly normal and able to move around better. We are just trying to digest that we now have two kids and have changed forever. We are so grateful for this change and just so excited for the future. I guess i need to change my blog title... i'll have to think about that for a lilttle bit.

a little update

... well first of all....still no baby, guess he is taking his sweet time, probably hears the tantrums his sister throws and isn't sure he is ready for that yet. Although Lizzy says she is, everyday or multiple times a day i hear, "i'm ready for your baby to come now" like i need a reminder. I"M READY TOO. (actually its really cute to hear her say) i had high hopes yesterday after having contractions for 4 -5 hours , but i guess those darn braxten hicks, cause they never got worse or real regular, and eventually went away. although the plus was i think after not sleeping well the two nights before and my body working that hard for pretty much nothing, i was sooooooo tired, so i slept soooooooooo good last night. and so we wait.. (by the way all you that have your babies weeks early....or even days....well you are lucky!...i'll leave it at that) the mental game is the most difficult, every moment i wonder..is this it ....NOOOOOOOOO

middle of march (9 months)

Okay as for lizzy update, she is in the study and the drugs seem to be leaving no side effects yet at least. We think we notice a difference in her joints, but are anxious to hear what the docs say on thurs. She of course hates the shots, she gets two, once a week. but each week is better. she didn't cry at all on one leg last week, we were amazed. she she usually asks every day if she is getting her shots, which i respond, "no not today", and she quickly jumps up and down yelling "yeah!" (unless its thursday then its, "noooooo how bout later." But she is tough and is doing great. so thanks for all your sweet comments, emails, and prayers. they have definetly helped!

Lizzy trying out the baby carrier!

Polyarticular Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis

Wow what a month, we went from almost doing eye surgery (getting two other opinions, saying they would not do it, so we are holding off, at least for now) to finding out our daughter has arthritis. Well we often commented on her running a little funny, or how her ankles, wrists, fingers seemed to be bigger than normal, (but we figured it was all normal and just her) And of course the whole reason we found it was her swollen knee(hence the sedation clip in last post) Come to find out it is a much more serious condition. So after much talking, praying, fasting, and i guess just accepting it, we are moving forward and hope all will work out for the best. We are putting her in a study that is going on around the country in hopes of attacking the autoimmune illness and being in remission within a year. They new evidence or what they believe is that it has not been treated aggressively in the past, so it lingers too long and causes damage to the cartilage and joints. So they want to be very aggressive from the start, JUST HOPE IT WORKS! anyway we will do monthly visits, blood work, and weekly injections and daily meds. Which has been the hardest to accept that i will have to give and do painful things to my mostly innocent 3 year old. She is tough and we will make it , but any prayers you want to throw our way are welcome!

Ode to Lizzy

I figure with a new baby coming soon, our lives will change and of course for the better, as we learn and grow in different ways, however i thought i'd give a shout out to my "special girl." Even though there have been definite rough patches over the last 3 years, i have learned so much from my 'sweetie pie.' She is just a doll, so eager, and loving. She just makes me smile!
The latest has been her willingness to help. Which of course i want to encourage even though it takes longer or is a bit inconvenient, i know the day will come when she won't want to help. She has been helping with yard work, dishes, painting, and anything else she can get her hands on. The other day i just didn't want to do the dishes, but she did, so she moved the rug out of the way, pushed a chair over and turned the water on to do it herself!







Over the last couple months we have been watching lizzy's knee and wondering if something was wrong, she never complained of pain or never seemed to favor it, but her left knee seemed bigger than her right. So we finally took her in this week and found she had extra fluid in there, they drained it and she is doing fine, but we have a follow up thursday and hope the labwork comes back normal. They say it could be from a sprain or twist, or infection. don't really know right now. But they had to give her some meds to drain the fluid and it made her very loopy. Which actually was very funny to watch. within 5 mins of taking it she was laughing hysterically and falling asleep not able to sit up. The funny part was while we were waiting they said to go get her blood work, so we had to do a urine sample. While i was holding her limp body on the toliet, Cj was trying to catch from the back. it took a bit, but we were successful, just glad she had to go.

Here is a video of us at the dr:

Besides this last week, we had beautiful 80 degree weather and took advantage. Lizzy loved playing in the sand at the beach and Mom and Dad were able to relax a bit. one of those wonderful days!

finally the after pics

Alright well its been a long road and of course always more to do, but we are in our house and feeling rather settled and making it home. We attempted to do a lot ourselves, but soon realized that was not going to happen, between me being pregnant, Cj busy with work, and us living at his mom's wanting to move into our house sometime in the next year. We gave up and hired most of it done! I am so happy we did. It is so much better than we would have done, and we got in within a couple weeks. So i don't think the pics really show what we had done, but you get the idea. We did all new paint, carpet, doors and frames, knocked out a wall and new hinges and knobs in the kitchen. Everything we did we love and are so glad we were led to do it.

before living room

after we knocked out the wall in living and dining room



other side of living room and entry after pic



before: ugly wood color and dirty

so much nicer cleaner white, new knobs and hinges, )someday we'll get new counter tops too)



eating area, washed out and dark


after, color and i love it!



before master bed (nasty pink color)


after, an ash gray actually.. again i love it


before lizzy's wing... so nasty i thought we would gut this bathroom, but it actually just needed paint and some scrubbing

new paint and faucets in bathtub


nasty bedroom: couldn't even open the closet, so much junk and YUCK!

Now it is sweet little Lizzy's room and she loves it


before 70s style family room

soooooo much better (except of course that CJ reminds me daily we now need a big screen) well its on the list!

We'll i have to admit the stress of picking colors and carpet was high, but goes to show you can pray about anything. I did and i know thats why it all turned out as good as it did. Thanks to my parents and sis for helping clean and work on little projects! Thanks to Cj's mom for pushing us the extra mile in many cases and for all those that encouraged and supported us.
Now we need visitors!

Birthdays, Christmas, New Years...

After waiting all year, at every birthday party we went to and having to pretend it was also Lizzy's party so we didn't have to deal with a tantrum....finally Lizzy had her 3rd Birthday and was so happy. She sang Happy Birthday with everyone else as she waited to blow out her candles until they were all done. She of course loved having presents to open and friends to play with. She loved being the star of the day.

Lizzy and Claire eat there cupcakes, or at least the frosting (which is Lizzy's favorite)


Lizzy with friend Gweneth Kolb and new bouncing ball, which she LOVES and is getting really good at.

Lizzy opening her presents and so excited.

The party gang, minus a twin

We did a pancake brunch for her party and enjoyed every bite.
So for a whole year, Lizzy was way into birthdays, now this year i think she is going to take Christmas on all year. She has us sing Silent night, and Rudolph every night to her still. She asked for her christmas books to read just about every night. We'll have to see how long she carries this on. But as for Christmas, we had a great holiday. We kept it simple with just moving and everything, but Lizzy was so fun to watch and learn this year. She really understood more of what was going on this year.

The closest we got to a family pic or sending out christmas cards...maybe next year.

Lizzy got new dress up princess clothes

Mom and Lizzy with presents from my bros fam. Love them thanks!

Lizzy and Cj opening stockings from santa

Lizzy and Cj making, or eating cookies for santa.

And Finally CJ's birthday! I got him a BBQ for his big 28! and his brother was nice enough to come help him put it together.

We wasted no time and had a family BBQ/Birthday party that night.



CJ's a natural, i'm so excited he is willing to cool now!!!

A little fam birthday party on his real bday, with his favorite, Reese's Christmas tree as his cake, we kind of over did the sweets over the holidays, so we simplified this time.

And the end of the year brought the news of Cj's Grandma passing away. While we are sad to loose her for now, we are overjoyed at the reunion she is having with her husband (who she lost over 35 years ago, and both her children preceded her in leaving this life. She really missed her family and often mentioned she was ready. She was 94 and lived a great life. we are so glad we had her down a few times over the holidays and even got a cute pic of her and lizzy.



And now we are on to the new year. We actually did go to a party and stayed up till midnight, which is amazing for me, i'm a 9pm kind of girl. But we had a good time and Lizzy even slept in a little the next day. We have started out the new year with beautiful weather, a great reason to live in san diego, its been 75 to 80 for most the week and we love going outside and working in the yard. Cj and i have been called to team teach the 9 year olds in our ward, which we both love. and we are anxiously awaiting baby boy!