Part 3

Our attempt at a brother photo shoot :) I have all these cute matching outfits for them, and poor Zane stays in the same pj's most of the day. I am lucky if I remember to brush my teeth...let alone do outfit and diaper changes on everyone.

I think Zane might end up being a thumb sucker, which I am thrilled about. I know you can't take it away like you can the binki. But try taking Kade's bink away and it is like World War 3.

My little love bird...I think he looks a lot like his daddy.

Missing..

 I am just missing both my boys right now, so wanted to post some cute pics. Do they really make little boys as cute as Kader?! Nate is at work right now and Kade is having a sleepover at Nate's parents house. I don't know how we could do it without the help of our friends, family, and ward members here. I miss Kade when he has his sleepovers, but it does help a lot. I haven't fully recovered from our nasty weekend at the hospital. But everyday seems to get better.  I am way too stubborn and I kept thinking I was fine (even though I was ralphing all day Saturday). Nate had to work Saturday night and I told him to go to work and that I would be okay. I guess that was pretty dumb because I ended up blacking out while throwing up. I got in the shower to try to rinse it all off me and was throwing up in there too (the total nasty kind of barfing when it is about 20 times in a row)....yes, probably way to much info!!!  Kade was so sad, he stood outside the shower just bawling. Earlier in the day Kade thought the throw up noise was funny and kept mimicking me, by the end of the evening I think it was freaking him out. I was able to get a hold of Nate and he rushed home from work to pick me up and bring me into the hospital. The staff was taking their sweet time getting me checked in, and even our first nurse was moving really slow. As soon as they got my urine sample back and hooked me up to the monitors I all of a sudden had 5 nurses and docs in my room trying to get my IV hooked up asap and blood drawn. Apparently I had 4+ keystones in my urine (I have no idea what that means, just that I guess it is really bad) meaning I was extremely dehydrated because I hadn't been able to keep anything down the whole day. My contractions were coming every 2 minutes and where very strong. They were past the point where I had already asked for my epidural with Kade. I was so out of it that I didn't really feel them and didn't know I was even contracting. Once the IV and drugs started reviving me, I began to feel the contractions a lot more. The nurse kept offering to give me morphine for the pain (I was having bad back labor). I denied it cause it kinda freaked me out. I finally decided, "heck I will give it a try if it can help me feel better".... I am now addicted to morphine and every day since then wish I could be hooked back up to that IV on my morphine drip. I still felt pain, but nothing like usual and it made me relaxed and sleepy. Ahhh, the joys of modern medicine. It took about 6 hours to get the contractions to slow down enough for us to go home. My husband was a Nazi about making me force myself to try to drink. I still had some more barfing episodes after the hospital, but I was finally able to get myself more hydrated. All in all, things are good now. I haven't gotten out of bed for the past 5 days and Nate has earned himself husband of the week award. I couldn't survive without him. I have to take my contraction meds round the clock now. They make my heart race :(. Before I only took the meds if the contractions were really bad. Oh well, I am just so happy we are home and everything turned out fine. My water better break when it's time for labor because I will probably have no idea when it is coming on cause I have been so used to contracting so often. The FFN test they took at the hospital came back negative, hallelujah! So as long as I don't let the contractions get out of control, then the test states I have a 96% chance of NOT going into labor within 14 days. That will put me at 36 weeks. WAHOO! My goal is to make it past 38 weeks.

I love this picture! It is best to brain wash them when they are young...Go Cougs!

Working on our eating skills. After his 2 hour eating evaluation at Primary Children's, they decided that he needs a once a week food therapy for his texture issues. They think he should be able to move through the program quickly. It has been good for me to learn some new techniques to get him to eat. Some days are really good, and some days he will only eat Cheetos. Can't really blame the kid, some days I only eat ice cream. Maybe they should be sending me to food therapy :)

Nesting???

Wahoo! We made it to 33 weeks. I feel like/look like a mountain...I am in horrible shape from loafing around so much...but baby Zane is doing good! My contractions are still going on, but it is better than a few months ago and my medication seems to help. Every week seems to be a little better, so I truly think we can make it full term!!! I keep asking myself if I should be "nesting" yet. By this time with Kade I had read every parenting book, painted his themed room, organized his closet, and vacuumed his room 100 times by now. I have to admit the most I have done with this baby is think, "Maybe I should pull out Kade's infant car seat and scrub the old baby barf out of it?" I know I should be doing something to make it special this time around. I guess it just hasn't hit me yet that I will soon have two little boys. I do have to say that I am glad the anxiety of being a first time mom isn't happening this time around. I feel a little guilty that I am not all stressed and excited about everything. It is kind of like the first Christmas that you stop believing in Santa Clause...it is still fun and exciting, but just really different. I am sure if I was aloud to drive then I would be out shopping for this new little man. But for now I guess I am just spending as much one on one time with Kade while I can. Here is to hoping that we can go at least 6 more weeks. As much as I am uncomfortable and can't sleep...I don't want to have a pre-term little one, so bring on the heartburn, fat belly, and bad back :)

 I am so grateful that Nate takes Kade on most all his daily runs. I know it is a sacrifice for Nate because you don't get as good of a run when you are pushing the running stroller along. I love it so much for these reasons:
*I love to watch Nate interact with Kade *I love for Kade to get some fresh air *I love how relaxed I am when they are gone :). It is just different from when Kade goes down for naps. I am still having to listen for him while he naps; but when they go on runs I get an hour or more to lay in bed and read. *And I love that I have a cute, fit hubby even though his wife is chubby! he he

My favorite boys. Do they make them any cuter?!

We are getting sad that football season is coming to an end. Sunday's after church just aren't the same without some games and a snack.

Monk

 I am sure I have blogged about Kade's 'Monk' before...it his best friend, he sleeps with it every single night without fail. My worst fear is loosing it. Kade got really sick a few weeks ago; we got in the habit of only having his binki and monk for naps, and bedtime. He got really good at it too and would toss them both back into his crib when we would let him out. Well, when he got sick he wanted his binki and monk all day and I was going to take that from him.  One afternoon he comes squealing into our room. He found the drawer where we keep his back up Monkey in case anything happens to the real one. He couldn't stop rubbing them both on his cheeks and loving on them both. It was SO cute! Kade's favorite word is "cool" and he would just say it over and over looking at both his monkeys.

 Yes...we have had a haircut since this pic....We have cut his spike down about 4-5 times and it still only grows in the back on into a spike on top. I don't care cause I think his spike rocks.

 I found Kade in his room putting the new monkey away all on his own where he had previously found it. He says "here a go" and put it back.  I guess after an hour of playing with both monkeys he decided he better just stick with his first and true pal.

To bad the pic hardly does it justice...the black fur his completely matted of his monk and the new one is so soft :)

Christmas, Stage One

Christmas seemed to come 3 times this year. It was different not going to Utah. We really missed seeing our bros, sis in laws, and nieces and nephews and both sides of the fam. But it was nice to not have to do that LONG drive and all the packing and laundry. I am still on rest and will be through out the rest of my pregnancy. I just turned 30 weeks so we are hanging in there! Nate had 8 days off work and 2 weeks off school and I LOVED having him home. I get to do a lot more when he is home because I have a wheelchair now, and he can load me and Kade up to get out of the house once in a while. I am just not allowed to lift anything, or be on my feet for extended periods of time...so with his help I can get out of my dungeon. We had our Christmas Eve dinner with the Sager fam at Charlestons. This was a fancy outing for Nate and I who usually call eating at Chilis fancy.

Arizona had this crazy warm week right before Christmas. It was high 70's and low 80's for a couple weeks. I love it because I would lay on a blanket in the backyard and Kade could run around. And yes, he played in the sprinklers in the middle of December!

We celebrated Christmas morning at our own house. It was funny because Nate and I woke up way before Kade. We made a nice breakfast for each other while the little man slept till 9:45am. Kade thought it was so funny that he was allowed to open the presents. He kept being told 'no' the past few weeks when he would try to sneak into them. He couldn't believe it was finally time to dig in! He had no interest in the clothes whatsoever. Nate got me a nice sewing machine for my main gift. I can't believe how much I wanted one. It has definitely been nice to play with the past few days. We got Nate a new fish finder for his boat and a new reel and rod combo. I had to sneak in a pic in the bottom corner of the college of my card display this year. I stole the idea from someone elses' blog and have really enjoyed it. I just painted wooden laundry clips and hung some ribbon across the entertainment center with the Christmas cards we received. I LOVE LOVE getting cards. Every one's where so stinkin cute and I love to look at them for months. We finally did cards this year and I was kinda a strug at it. I lost about 15 of them that were addressed and stamped and I am not sure who didn't get theres :(


 Why does everyone keep taking my picture??

 Little Sneak!

 If you notice in these 3 pics, Kade has a "ball" in his hand that he stole from his Nana's tree. He knows better to take stuff off their tree because someone actually tells him no and takes it away. This time he just couldn't help himself. He would take off a "ball" and start running as fast as he could before someone caught him in the act. It was so funny! Everything is free game at my house. He runs around and does basically whatever he pleases because I can't chase him. I just laugh while I am laying on my love sac, getting fatter my the minute, as my house turns into a tornado.

 

Christmas afternoon we went over the Nate's parents to exchange our gifts with them. The second time around, Kade really had the present opening down to a T.  Balls, cars, and candy where Kade's most favorite gifts by far. He runs around the house all day saying "ball, ball, ball...." over and over again. He will switch it up with "go, go , go..." repeatedly too. I love that he is all boy. He cracks me up all the time. Nate and I really enjoyed spending lots of quality time with him over break.

Hope everyone had a Happy Holidays!!! I am behind on my blogging so hopefully I get to more posts soon. Oh, and my new years resolution is to try not to be so anti-social this year. And to learn to answer my phone and listen to voicemails. So far not so good, I have about 13 voicemails from the past week or so stored up. Hopefully you all are having better luck on your resolutions.

One week...

I was going to wait to blog about this when I wasn't as sad about it because I don't want to sound like a whinnier...but it has only been one week (it's felt like 3 months) and I am pretty sure I am getting more attitude about it as the days pass on...so here it goes. It all kinda started with my 14 hr. shopping spree on Black Friday. I love everything about Black Friday, the crowds, the deals, the challenge, and the exhaustion. Thank goodness I finished most all my Christmas shopping that night and my house was already decorated. The next few days were just as busy, and that's when I first started noticing my contractions were getting worse. I was pretty sure they were just braxton hicks though. I didn't know that braxton hicks weren't supposed to hurt/take your breath away.  After about 4 days of it Nate made me call my doctor last Friday.  The Dr. said that I had to rest over the weekend, and if I got 6 or more contractions in one hour than I had to go to the hospital. I had 5 contractions an hour for most all of Saturday..yes I recognize now that it would've probably been safer to go in to get checked, but I hate going to the hospital and I still wasn't convinced anything was wrong. Monday morning at my Dr. apt they ran some test that takes 24 hrs to get results back.  The test tells you if you are going to have the baby within a week and that your contractions are starting your labor. Kinda crazy that they can know that from a test. After the test the doctor checked to see if I has dilated and/or effaced.  I am dilated to about a 2 and starting to thin out, so we were ordered to go rt. to the hospital because the Dr. said they could get the labor test results back within 1 hr. and they wanted me hooked to the monitors. Luckily the test came back negative or I wouldn't have been able to go back home! I was contacting while I was monitored, but only had 2 in an hour while resting. I guess I was dehydrated as well, and now that I am pounding water like crazy it has helped a lot.  So as for now, I am on "rest".  I shouldn't really call it bed rest, because I have had friends on bed rest that can't get up to do anything, only go to the bathroom. I am allowed to be on my feet here and there, just for 20-30 min and then have to lay back down. We made a trip to Wal-mart this weekend and it was the highlight of my week. Nate dropped me off right at the door before he parked and I got me the trusty ole' automatic wheel chair. So embarrassing, but so worth it. I could tell I was socially deprived because I was talking to anyone who'd give me the time of day. I am not a phone person at all, I like face to face interaction a lot more so it was nice to see people that weren't on my TV screen.

This is what I hate most about it: 
***I can't hold Kader. It makes me soooo sad. Maybe it is a good for him because he has become at lot closer to Nate this past week.  Kade has had many sleepovers at Nate's parents, they take him the nights Nate has to work. It maybe is easing Kade into not having just me and him 24/7, because when the baby comes I am planning on nursing and that takes up a lot of time at the beginning. Even if it will help with the new baby transition, it still sucks. I am obsessed with my little Kader so this separation has probably been harder on me.  We still snuggle as much as he'll let me while watching cartoons on the love sac.
***I have stay at home all day A.D.D. I can stand being home the whole day. I should use this time to catch up on scrap booking or something, but it doesn't really feel good to sit up. So basically I just feel like a big blob that is lazy around the house. My house is so messy because I can't really bend down to pick up toys.
***I don't get ready unless I am going out, so by 4'oclock in the afternoon and you realize you haven't even brushed your teeth for the day...you really start to feel good about yourself.
***No more Utah for Christmas. I want to cry just writing about it. I wanted Kade to play in the snow and to spend time with Jeff, B, and Dyl, and I will miss our traditional family parties, and HS girlfriends party, and cousins and grandparents. I guess of all the years to have to miss, it ends up being okay because Mark and Nat couldn't come from Hawaii. And a lot of my cousins weren't able to come home either. Still, way sad though. I try not to get jealous when I look at everyone's blogs when they are at their fun family holiday parties.

Forcing myself to look how it's blessed us:
***It's made me even more grateful for my husband and in-laws. They all will go out of their way to help make sure Kade is staying entertained and that I am taking care of this unborn baby by taking it easy. Nate has turned into super dad because now he is our full-time provider, full-time student, the mom and the dad.
***We see how willing people are to help. My ward has been incredible providing meals. I really can still cook, but it has truly helped so much because cooking is hard enough for me even when I don't feel like crap. It makes me want to help others as soon as I get the opportunity to serve because I have seen how willing these amazing people are to help. Also, my girlfriends have been great offering to take Kade, or do whatever I need of them.  I haven't had to take them up on it yet, but it is SOOO nice knowing that if I am ever in a bind I can count on anyone of them in a heartbeat. When we first moved to AZ it was really hard for me to be away from my own family. I still miss them all the time, but I am truly thankful for the friends we have made here and Nate's family being here.  It is humbling to have so many people offer support to me, and I feel like I am not doing anything for anyone else in return besides lay around my house.
***My parent's have decided to drive down Christmas morning. They will spend Christmas eve with our fam there and then come down here to spend a few days with us. It will be great to have them here!
***I realize it could be WAY WAY worse. Anyone that has been on hard core bed rest is probably rolling their eyes thinking I have no idea how much worse it could be. I am also SOOO grateful that the rest is working. My contractions are becoming less painful and less frequent. I am doing my best to stay down because I want whats best for baby Zane, even if it means I gain 500 lbs from being a lazy butt the next 3 long months. I am keeping my fingers crossed that my Dr. will tell me I can add some more "up" time to my day at my next apt.

Kade spends most of the day in Jammies until Nate can come change him, he doesn't seem to mind though.

Indoor football and a house full of tile is not the best combo. It is hard to tell from the pic but the goose egg is literally the size of a golf ball. Don't worry, I was just the cheerleader during the game, Nate and Kade were the players. Our poor lil guy.

It has been so hot here the last few days. I laid on a blanket outside and let Kade run around in the backyard. I had to take his long-sleeve off and let him play in just his diaper because he was sweating! After we came inside he decide to spruce up because someone in the house had to be looking good. He really put my head band on himself, I just tightened it a little.

That looks says, "mom, if you show anyone this picture you are dead meat...and if my daddy see's me like this you are in big trouble!"

Zoo Day

I think I have blogged before about my feelings for the Zoo. I am not really a big fan. I think it would be a lot cooler if you could ride the giraffe than to just stare at it. Now that Kade is getting older he is really into animals and the nosies that they make.  I was able to get us some free passes from the public library for the Phoenix Zoo and we couldn't pass that up. It is definitely more fun when it's free and you don't feel like you have to stay all day and stare at every animal to get your money's worth. The petting zoo was by far the hit for Kade (I guess he doesn't like just staring at animals either) The goats were a hit again.  Kade found a stick that he decided would make the perfect whacking device. He really let the goats have it. Nate and I thought it was hilarious until a lady came in and reprimanded him, then we had to act like we were concerned for the goats. You would've thought we took a million bucks from the poor kid, he screamed bloody murder when we took his stick away.

I have to put a plug in for Arizona winters in case anyone wants to come visit us. It was 77 degrees today! Nate didn't have a T-shirt under his sweatshirt and he was really hot. Nothing like a sunny day on December 1st. Oh, and PS. the monkey's were the funniest monkey's I had ever seen. They were so active. We sat and watched them and laughed out loud for a long time. Kade wished we could take one home.

Kade's first carousal ride.  He thought he was really funny at first, but about half way through the ride he wasn't so sure about it and did a fake laugh with a nervous face...it was to die for.

 

Kade thinks anything with a beak quacks like a duck.  It is so funny to hear him quack.  This duck in particular was not shy at all and came right up to us.  I gave Kade a piece of crust to throw at the duck, but the duck took initiative and jumped up and pecked it right from his fingers. He was so mad at the duck, again we couldn't stop laughing.  Our son is definitely a character.

Cleaning up after a fun day.

Do you think that boy has enough stuffed animals in his bed? Of course the Monkey is tucked in close by :) We love this little boy!

PS.. Notes for myself for 15 month check up earlier this week:
-Head: back to the 98% instead of over 100% :)
-Height: 33 in.   -Weight: 22 lbs
-Diapers: size 4  -Clothes: Size 18 month, but have to roll up the pants (he has long torso, short legs)
-Kade is going to start some eating classes at Primary Children's to see if that can help with his texture issues and eating strikes.  He used to gobble up everything and the last few months have been quite the struggle. Some days the only thing he will eat the whole day is a few Cheetos. He isn't teething or anything right now so they just want to observe him and go from there. Thank goodness for the pedi-sure from the McBrides so that he is still getting some calories.