For Crying Out Loud

Today Adam is 8.5 lbs and three months old. I can't believe we are already a quarter of the way through his first year. Just the other day I was thinking about how cute his little newborn cry was and wondering how much longer it would last. It seemed like the very next day when I noticed that it is changing and that it is getting louder and sometimes just a little bit angrier. I am looking forward to Adam coming out of his newborn phase. Most babies by now are smiling and responding to people around them. True to what we have been told, Adam is not quite there yet.

Friday night it was just Adam and I together. Chloe and Noah got to spend the night at Grandma and Grandpa Hubbard's house, and Joe had to work. I enjoyed getting to just focus on him and to play around a little. I took several pictures, most of them looked like this, with Adam looking up at lights, but I was glad when finally did get one of him looking at the camera. How Friday night entertainment changes when you are a mom!

Some of the time Adam and I spend together takes place in the middle of the night. I am hoping this changes soon, allowing us both to get more consecutive hours of sleep, but it is what it is. This same Friday night I was glad to be up feeding the little man at 2:00am. Why would anyone be glad for that? I believe it's better to be awake than to be awoken when a fire alarm goes off in your house. Freaked. me. out. I still don't know why it went off. What I do know is that this is another reason I am grateful to live in the city in which Joe works. After seeing that there was no obvious sign of fire, I was able to call Joe and have him come to check things out along with some very nice firemen. No fire, no carbon monoxide, and still no answers as to why it went off.

Chloe invited us to her first parent day of the school year. Last year she got shy on us and refused to sing when we were there. This year she was one of the loudest. I was so proud of her. She is doing so well in preschool and loving every minute

Here is Chloe introducing herself and telling the parents what she is grateful for.

Whistling to a song. So cuteFor a recent family home evening, we decided to bake donuts for dessert. We had a great time making them together. My kids have asked to make them again every day since.

We are currently warming Noah to the idea of potty training. I really want him to want to do this, but I also just want him to do it whether he wants to or not. Last week, Joe got sick of changing Noah's third dirty diaper of the day and decided it was time to try the big boy Cars underwear we had been trying to get him excited about. He was excited to put them on, but was crying soon after about wanting the diaper. We were on the verge of crying too when a lack of diaper resulted in messes on a rug, on the carpet, and in the shower. There's not much else to say after that.

Life continues to be an adventure and I couldn't think of a cuter group to go along on it with!

Over the River and Through the Woods

I can't believe a year has past since we moved to our new home. In some ways it feels like it's been just a matter of days, and in some ways it feels as though we've always been here.

I would love to say that I have my house completely put together the way I want, but truth be told, I still have a few things on the floor waiting for me to decide where to hang them. One of these days, I will finish and post pictures, today is not that day.

In thinking of the past year, full of many ups mixed with a few downs, I wanted to record some of my favorite things about living here.

First is the view from my house. I love the beautiful view we have of the mountains (however, I'm not loving the snow topping the mountains quite as much). I love sitting out with the kids are they play and being able to see beauty all around me. I also love our neighborhood. There are not words to describe how much I appreciate how warmly we have been welcomed to this ward and area. There is a great mix of people our age and personality along with kids similiar ages to ours. In this respect more than any other I feel like we have been here forever with these people, our friends.
I love that we have space to grow in our home. We are slowly but surely finishing the basement and I can't wait for the memories we will continue to create.

I love that we live on a quiet road. The design of the neighborhood is such that really, unless you are going to a house on the street, there is no need to drive down it.

I love that Joe lives in the city he works. That he can come home for lunch has been so so so nice.

I love that to get to our house, we get to go through "the woods" as my kids say. Everytime I drive this road I enjoy how beautiful it is

"Hello river!" is a phrase that wouldn't complete our journeys along this road as my kid's excitement to cross the bridge still hasn't faded. I love crossing the river daily and love that it lays at the end of our road to enjoy walks and bike rides along, or to justhave fun wading into it's flowing waters.
In a season of gratitude, I am beyond grateful to live where I do. There are moments that I think, and sometimes Chloe expresses, that we miss our "old home." Not seeing good friends as often is the hardest thing, but being here surrounded in beauty, comfort, and new friendships, is a blessing I wouldn't trade.

What's In A Name

Today I should be large, uncomfortable, and ready to give birth. I should be wishing I could to go to the hospital to get induced like I was with Chloe and Noah. I should be packing hospital bags and readying my kids for the change that is about to occur. Instead I sit and stare at my beautiful 10 week and 1 day old baby and it's hard to believe I have finally arrived at the day he was due to arrive. After a crazy pregnancy and following an even crazier 24 hours, Adam entered the world and while those that read this may be tired of hearing all that is related to this experience, these posts are for record keeping and I want to record and remember all that I can from this time in our family's life.

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Adam. I am aware that we have two children with obvious biblical names. Adam and Noah were wonderful leaders in the creation of the world and the time of the Bible. They are examples of faith and strength and my boys would do well to be named after them. Repeatedly I am asked if that is the case - did we intentionally name our sons after these prophets. My answer is a somewhat emphatic no. In fact, not personally being a fan of "theme" names, I was opposed to naming Adam as such because of the biblical connection having both names would imply. My preference for a name was Owen. Joe and I went back and forth and had yet to reach a decision between Adam, Owen, or otherwise when our baby decided to join the party.

About four hours elapsed before I was able to see Adam for the first time, having just caught a glimpse of a tiny purple body being handed off to a neonatologist at delivery. Doctors had come to tell me of his progress and to assure me that he was stable. Joe had watched him be resuscitated and had been able to pass some information on to me. I was kept very well informed, but that doesn't replace actually being able to see him for myself and at 4:00PM that desire was granted as I held this tiny, fragile, beautiful child in my arms.

At first I was surrounded by a nurse and respiratory therapist. Joe was with me and we asked lots of questions. I kept staring at this little child still wondering if this had all really just happened. As questions were exhausted and Joe realized he needed to go check on Chloe and Noah, I finally had my first moments alone with my baby. I stared for a while and then started to talk to him. About how he scared us. About how perfect he looked even tiny and filled with wires and IV's. About how excited Chloe and Noah were to meet him. About how he better be strong and get healthy fast so he could come home. About what his name should be.

As I talked, I had placed one of my fingers in his hand and was surprised when he grabbed it, having been told we wouldn't see a whole lot of interaction for the first little bit of his life. He held my finger as I asked him what he wanted his name to be. Rooting for Owen, I asked "Should your name be Owen?" No response. I asked a couple of others names I liked and received the same non-response. They didn't fit and we both knew it. Finally I asked "Should your name be Adam?" My question was followed with a squeeze of my finger. Pretty sure it was a reflex I asked again and asked other names again as well. Each time I said the name Adam I felt that pressure on my finger and I knew that this was the name that was to be his.

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With that the name was decided. Adam and Wesley as a middle name after Joe's dad. Even though the intention was not to name our child purposefully after a prophet, I am grateful for the strong examples that have carried his names and hope that he will appreciate the name he chose and that he too will be an example of faith as he lives his life.

Although still not as big as either of my others at birth, Adam's due date finds him at 71/2 lbs, starting to smile and recognize us, and making us grateful for the time we have been able to share with him earlier then expected.

BOO!

Living in Utah, a predominately LDS state, we were able to celebrate Halloween and trick or treating on Saturday this year. As my kids get older their excitement level for this day is getting higher and higher. They were SO excited I don't know if they could have made it to the actual day anyway.

Noah, being obsessed with the movie Shark Boy and Lava Girl, chose to be a shark this year.

Chloe, my oh so girly, princess daughter suprised me with her choice of Spider Girl

Adam, who was still supposed to be snuggly in my tummy for a few more days, wore a Halloween sleeper and then his "costume" was the only thing we could find small enough - a skeleton

My frighteningly cute kiddos

With their scary looking mom

Heading out the door

Joe promised he would take the kids out for as long as they wanted to as many houses as they wanted - Chloe thought she was going to last until "late night". Noah was done after about 30 minutes and Chloe lasted an hour. They came back with a pretty good stash

Chloe, after consuming way more candy then is usually allowed, then got silly and started walking around telling us she had a "bowl bum" She and we thought she was hilarious.

These are some of the moments that I love being a mom and having my own family the most. Whether you celebrated last night or today, we wish you the spookiest of Halloweens!

Pumpkins

This little pumpkin hit 7lbs this week. At two monthes old, we are so glad that he continues to do well. Chloe is glad that I let her pick outfits sometimes and actually keep him in them long enough to get a picture - look at those cute little legs!

On to other pumpkin activities

Joke: How do you fix a broken jack-o-lantern?

Answer: Pumpkin Patch

I love me some cool looking lit up jack-o-lanterns, but don't so much love the mess, so we opted not to break the jack-o-lanterns in the first place and go the less messy route by painting pumpkins this year. The finished products Pumpkins with attitude

Field Trippin

One of Chloe's favorite things about preschool is getting to go on field trips. Noah's favorite thing about preschool is that he gets to come on the field trips too! Yesterday we got to go on just such a favorite activity when we went to the Black Island Farms. I LOVE this place. We were able to come last year as well and again there were so many fun things for the kids to do They had a great time playing with each other and with friends.

The carrots they pull from the ground here are amazingly sweet and we loved receiving some during the pumpkin picking hayride.While I am a fan of this place, I am not so much a fan of corn mazes. Can you say claustrophopic (and for that matter, can I spell it?) Luckily they had a kid size corn maze where there was no wrong turn. These slides are fast and some of them are quite tall. Very fun.

Chloe and her "boyfriend" Cadence riding the animal train. Can you tell Noah is loving this?I would totally have one of these at my house if I ever gathered myself enough kernals. The cornbox as opposed to a sandbox is a much cleaner idea.We had a great time getting out for a while and having time be all about them. Here's hoping we get to go again next year when Noah is in preschool.

Home

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. My baby is home. I can't express to you how I feel about trading long days going back and forth from the hospital for long nights of not a lot of sleep. I may be tired but it is so worth it. A little recap of that wonderful October 8th morning:

Adam had to eat by mouth for 48 hours. We were "warned" Thursday night that if he did well through the night we would get to come get him the next morning. I spent the rest of the evening rushing to get things finished, and Adam spent it eating like a champ. Friday dawned, I called to confirm his release, and we headed up to this beautiful hospital that I am so sick of seeing. His final stats were taken:

Beginning Numbers/Ending Numbers:

3.7 lbs (although he went down to 3.2)/ 5.9lbs 16 inches 18 inches

Ventilated Breathing /Consistent 90% oxygen levels unassisted

We took one more comparison shot of Joe's hand with Adam's body Tucked him into his carseat (he stayed sound asleep through the whole process)

Said goodbye to his final hospital space and the wonderful people there

Signed out for the last time
Loaded in the car and headed for home
Noah and Chloe LOVED that they finally got to touch and hold their little brother

Cost of labor and delivery: $9228.00

Cost of gas back and forth from the hospital: $140.00

Donated babysitting hours for my kids: 146

Cost of Neonatologists, Nurse Practicioners, Registered Nurses, Developmental Specialists, Lacatation Specialists, Dietitians, Respiratory Therapists, and the care they prescribed during Adam's 47 day stay: $150,150.00
Having my child home safe and healthy: Priceless