Urijah the Corpse

Urijah fell asleep on my dad Saturday night, and my dad joked that he looked like a corpse, then started posing him! Lol! Morbid, but funny!

Our Christmas Trip to Cali

We just got back from our Early Christmas trip to California. It was great! We had a great flight out where we got 2 rows to ourselves, so Mika slept next to Zarik while Urijah and I snoozed in the row behind them.

We stayed at the Brost house and everyone had so much fun seeing how much Mika has grown and meeting Urijah. Flene, Justin and their daughter Hailey came out Wednesday and we had a ton of fun with them since it was our first time meeting Hailey! She is so cute!

Friday night I took Urijah and we went with my mom to see a "family friendly" Nutcracker (shortened and done by local dance studios, with just a few professionals). My brother Brandon was in the part scene as one of the adult guests! He did great!! So did Urijah, thanfully. :)

Saturday night was our night with my family and we had a ton of fun opening presents, cooking, eating, and playing games. My poor mom got sick that day, though, so although she was enjoying it, she kept having to run to the bathroom to throw up. That didn't keep her from trying to help finish dinner and clean up, though, crazy Mommy! (;P Luv U!)

Between both families both the kids and Zarik and I really "made out" this year! Mika got TWO ride on toys, while Z and I got a laptop from my parents! Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!!!!!!!

Getting home was a lot more of a hassle as it took us about 14 hours. We got to the Sacramento airport at 5am and I believe the flight we finally got on to Denver was at 2pm. It was a loooooooooong exhausting day for everyone but Urijah (he didn't care as long as he got fed enough!). We did get first class from Sac-Den though!! Yeah for big comfy seats and fruit'n'meat plates! Both kids slept the whole way, too.

We are now home and recovering, lol. Poor Zarik got called into work this morning, though. Just for a quick "repo" to Denver and back, though, so not too bad. He should be home by noon or one. We plan on just taking the rest of the week easy. Zarik does work on Christmas, but should be back by bedtime.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!

Aunt Mriah holding Hailey with Urijah in the forground

Burrito Urijah

Mika using her sleeve as a teeting item

Helping out in the kitchen

Mika and Mommy

Hailey "holding" Burrito Urijah

Cousins!

Running Away!

Who are you?

Urijah and Hailey

The boys with their babies

Sister and Brother with their babies

Kissin' Cousins!

Story Time!

Zarik and the kids

Mika watching the planes

Mika helping with Urijah

Sleepy Airport Babies

Win an Ergo!!

As I think most of you know, I love babywearing (carrying my li'l ones in a sling, wrap or other type of carrier). While I do not have the Ergo personally, I love what I've seen of it, and wish I had one! It's a great way to start or continue wearing your baby.

Win a Free Organic Embroidered Ergo Baby Carrier Hands Free System from Along for the Ride

November Pictures

Keepin' on Keepin' on...

Well here we are smack dab in the middle of the holiday season, '08. Urijah is a month old now and Mika is 16 months. Urijah is cooing a lot and smiling now. It's SO cute! I'll have to focus on getting a picture of it - I've just been enjoying all his grins myself, for now. :) Mika's learning new words and phrases every day and loves trying them out on Zarik and I. Grandma got her Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer for and early Christmas present and she loves watching it.

My mom has been out again for another week and we've had fun doing lots of projects. We put up all our Christmas stuff this week, made Christmas cards, Birth Announcements, did a scrapbook (for a present), and sorted through toys! The next two days before she leaves are busy ones and I'm already tired lol!

Next week we'll be in California for an early Christmas since Zarik couldn't get it off. It'll be the first Christmas I've ever been away from my family Christmas morning! Hopefully this will be the only one!

Merry Christmas Everyone! Jesus is the reason for the season!

Family Christmas Portraits

Newborn Portriats of Urijah

Urijah's 2 Week Doctor Appointment

So when we went for Urijah's newborn appointment, we saw a different pediatrition than our normal one because ours was sick that day. Everything looked good then, and he only lost 3lbs from his birth weight, but she said she wanted us to come back when he was 2 weeks old anyways. I'm glad we got to, though, so our pediatrition could look at him, too.

Breastfeeding is going VERY well and Urijah has already gained over a full pound over his "leaving the hospital" weight, which at 7lbs, 3.5oz is 14.5 oz over his birth weight! Go Tiny Man! She did a full exam on him since she hadn't seen him herself yet and said that everything looks great!! He lost most of his cord at 4 days old, and the last little piece a few days ago. Even though it's still oozing a tiny bit, she said it looks good.

Mika is doing very well with the transition to being a big sister. She has been a little more moody, but then again, she's a toddler now!

Mika's 15 Month Doctor Appointment

Monday we went for Mika's 15 month appointment. Our girl is getting so big!! She's 21lbs, 12.5oz (the 40th percentile), 30.5 inches long (50th percentile) and her head is 46cm around (46th percentile). Her "curve" on the growth chart is staying nice and consistant, except for her weight which is going up, and that's what we've wanted since she was 6 months old, so yeah!!

The pediatrition was VERY impressed by Mika's verbal skills. We guess-timated that she has about 35 words that she says, plus animal sounds. We were told that most kids only have a couple dozen at MOST and animal sounds are more like 18m-2y! She's a li'l talker!! Now if only we can get her to USE her words when she actually wants something.... ;-)

There really wasn't a whole lot we needed to talk with her about, so it was a pretty short appointment. It did end with the inevitable shots, though - HIB and flu. She did so great though! Cried just for a minutes while I frantically grabbed for her binky, then walked out of there like it was nothin'!

Urijah Andrew

More to come, but they're on Mom's camera. :D

Urijah's Birth Story!!

Short Version: Urijah Andrew was born at 3:35am on Halloween by VBAC (Vaginal Birth After Cesearean)!! He was 6lbs,5oz, and 20" long.

Long Version: I had had pretty intense pre-labor since Monday night with contractions no more than 20 minutes apart. Thursday I was going crazy and decided I HAD to go with Zarik to pick up my mom from the airport - I just needed to get out!! We picked her up and went to Chili's for a late lunch. I must have looked pretty funny as I had to stand up every 10 minutes or so and lean through a contraction! We got home about 5 and my contractions immediately picked up to about 8 minutes apart. They were also getting pretty intense. My mom and sister went to the store, and while they were gone I realized this was probably it. The shower I took even made them more intense! Zarik was going to work out when my mom and sis got home, but I told him it was a bad idea - I think this is it. After the last 3 days he was sceptical, but after an hour and a half he was convinced and we were off! I have to add here that he was awesome at stalling me during this time. We have taken Bradley Birth Classes, and he knew I wanted to stay home as long as possible. He kept puttering around getting us ready, doing little chores, making me a protien shake, etc. Then on the way down(it's a 45 min drive down a mountain pass and through the city to the hospital) he casually says "I'm going to swing through the Starbucks drive-through if that's ok." I was remembering during Mika's labor when he left me to go get a cup of coffee, so I replied "Fine. Just make it fast." His response? "YOU FAILED! We'are going back home!" It was another "test" to see if I was truly ready to go down, lol! At the time he got growled at, but now it's pretty funny.

We got to the hospital at about 9:45pm, walked up to triage (in between contractions), got the "ok, you're in labor!" and got escorted to the same room we had with Mika! Zarik got our stuff from the car, I got settled in, and our midwife, Sharon, showed up. Contractions were every 2 minutes at this point and I was 6 cm dilated. They needed to do a hep-lock (the arm part of the IV - but not a full IV) since I was a VBAC patient, and it took them FOUR tries!! They'd just about get it in and the vein would blow. UGG!

As labor got more intense, I found my favorite position was standing hanging over Zarik's right arm with Sharon pushing on my low back. I figured since Zarik can bench press 385 lbs, he could hold me up, lol! I went from having no back labor when we arrived, to almost complete back labor by the end. After a couple hours I was still at a 6, so Sharon asked if we wanted the water broken. We said we'd wait a while longer - I was scared at how intense that might make it. An hour or so later (I lost all track of time so these are guestimates) we gave our ok since we were still at a 6. I decided I just wanted him OUT and I better just get it over with. OMG contractions immediately got SO much more intense! I pretty much immediately went into transition (the part right before you're ready to push) and was at a 9! It took another li'l bit of me baring down to get from there to complete (10 centameters), and during that time they put up the squatting bar because that position felt best. After that Zarik joked I looked like a weird pole dancer - I was up, down, twisting, sqatting, biting the bar, swaying. I was "shaking the baby down!" I had hardly any breaks at all now and next thing I knew I was pushing! Sharon quickly saw sqatting wasn't going to be good for me tearing wise, so they got me in a side laying position and got a mirror. It was SO amazing seeing his head crown! I reached down to touch it and decided I was just going to leave my hand there. About 3 contractions later he was born and I was helping pull him onto my chest!! I did have a 1st degree tear 'cause I wasn't a good girl and didn't listen when Sharon was telling to slow down and let the skin stretch. I just wanted him out!!

I cuddled my boy for about 5 minutes before they insisted on taking him for a minute because he really needed his throat suctioned out. They gave him back as my stitches were being finished and he immediately went to the breast and stayed there for an hour and a half!!

The rest of our stay was just too many nurses and blood draws, lol. We're home now and adjusting to life with a newborn who LOVES to eat ALL the time, a toddler with a bad diaper rash, and all our assorted animals (we have 5) and helpers (my mom, her dog, my sister).

Pre-Labor

I am currently in a land called pre-labor. It's an encouraging, but not so nice place between Braxton-Hicks Contractions, and 2 minute apart/4 centemeter dialated active labor. Basically, I am having quite painful contractions every 20 minutes that I have to stop and breathe through, and wake me if I'm asleep.

I was contracting pretty regularly last night - every 10 minutes until about 4am, then because I hadn't eaten in a while they were at 2.5 minutes. I took a shower, ate (a protein bar and baked potato of all things - I think my body was telling me I should carbo-load, lol!!), had a gatorade and spent time timing them. I was about to tell Zarik we should put our hospital stuff in the car when they started spacing out again, so I went back to bed and they spaced back out to 20 min where they've been ever since. I had my chiropractor appointment and saw Sharon (my midwife) today, and they pretty much just said hang in there, you're getting so close! I just really hope I can last until active labor - these contractions HURT and are draining me. Zarik is making sure I stay hydrated and eat enough to keep my body functioning through this, though. He's the best! I think he just likes being able to put all our labor practice into play for the first REAL time, lol.

Please pray for me (for all of us) as, even though it is exciting, I am getting tired and a little frustrated, especially knowing it could be days of this. I really want to stay positive and optimistic, but it's not easy.

Mika Really Loves to Dance!

Pregnancy and Infant Loss Rememberance Day

Today is October 15th, which is National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day. I don't know that I've shared my story here, so I though today would be a good day to talk about my babies.

Zarik and I first decided it was the right time to start a family New Years, 2006. 3 months later we had our positive pregnancy test!! We had our first doctor appointment at approximately 6 weeks. The doctor had a free ultrasound machine, and decided to do an quick ultrasound just for fun! Well, low and behold, it looked like there were TWO sacs!! TWINS!! It was kinda hard to tell though, so we scheduled another ultrasound/appointment, and I was supposed to get my HCG (the pregnancy hormone) levels tested. Well, after 2 more ultrasounds, appointment, and blood draws, it was apparent that yes it was twins, but they didn't grow even to the point of their hearts beating. That last appointment was the only one Zarik was unable to make and I really wish I'd waited an extra day so he could be there with me. We decided to let the miscarriage happen naturally and 2 weeks later it did. That was definitely one of the hardest times of my life. Maybe THE hardest time. A few weeks later a young man at church had a vision of Zarik holding a blond baby boy, and I had a vision of a blond girl running towards us from the gates of heaven. So that is how I now picture my babies. We never found names for them, but figure we will find out their names when we see them again.

This is the memory box necklace I got to commemorate them and their story:



Please join me tonight at 7pm in lighting a candle and saying a prayer for all the mommies that are remembering their little ones today.

The Colors of Autumn

While we don't get quite as much or as spactacular a change as the east coast, the Rockies definately go through a seasonal color change that is just beautiful. Here are some pictures Zarik took from the ridge above our home.


Our house is straight down the hill in this picture - you can kinda see the roof