Isaac's Birthday

We celebrated Isaac's birthday last week, it was small but nice. We went up to the Roger's house so we could celebrate Uncle Kyle's birthday as well.Chad and I got him a few things, one of which is this Transformer's car. He LOVES it, which is super gratifying for us. :)

As you can see, he likes to sleep with his toys; when he goes down for a nap in the afternoon he has to have all his cars with him. Nana and Grandpa Rogers got him some dinasaurs for his birthday (in a carrying box that he calls his 'purse.' "I can't find my purse mommy!") and he's slept with those for the past few nights. Too bad none of his toys are SOFT!

Isaac Turns 3!

Isaac is turning 3 this month! I can't believe how quickly time has gone.Isaac was born 9 weeks early by C-section. His pregnancy was a difficult one, beginning with Placenta Previa which got me 7 weeks of bedrest at home. Then my water broke at 27 weeks and that landed me in the hospital on bedrest for the remainder of the pregnancy. Boring. But, thankfully we were able to make it another 4 weeks before I went into labor.
He weighed 3 lbs. 8 oz. at birth

At LDS Hospital they encouraged what they called 'kangaroo care.' It's skin-to-skin contact with the baby. Studies have shown amazing things happen when mothers hold their premature babies like this. For instance, back in the 1980's a woman gave birth to her baby extremely early and despite all the doctors efforts, this baby was dying. The doctors called her in to hold her baby one last time, and she decided to hold him right up to her chest against her bare skin. Within a few hours his vital signs had improved dramatically so she and her husband took turns holding this baby like that around the clock for 48 hours until he was out of the danger zone.

The nurses at the hospital told me that studies have shown that a mother's body responds to the needs of the baby to keep the baby at the right temperature. Someone can stand behind a mother and say "the baby's getting cold" and her temperature will go up to warm up the baby. It's really amazing. So, for the hour I was allowed to hold him each day, I held him like this.

Here he is at 2 weeks old, that's a preemie diaper that he's being swallowed in.
At 1 month

6 weeks
First day home from the hospital being held by Grandpa Shapiro.
5 lbs 4 oz

Debbie meeting her brother for the first time.

Blessing day - 4 months

6 months old

As you can see, he had a really hard time gaining weight once we got him home from the hospital...

1st birthday

2 years old

And now at almost 3!

He's such a sweet boy, we love him so much! He is so expressive with his feelings and he loves deeply. We're so grateful for the power of the Priesthood and for modern medicine, he's 100% healthy! He loves all things boy; dinasaurs, cars, spiderman (basically any superhero), bugs, yelling (rawr!), and wrestling. He also loves his daddy and tries to be like him. He's a very happy child, but he's also sometimes quiet so I worry that he gets looked over because his older sister is so much louder and more demanding when we're with company. He loves both Debbie and Cosette very much and plays so well with them. He and Debbie like to wrestle and play, the other morning I woke up to the sound of them chasing each other around and laughing and playing; pretty much the most beautiful sound in the world! His big, dark, brown eyes and that beautiful smile of his get me every time. We love you Isaac!

Vindication

I remember reading this article when it was first published and I loved it. I got that, "Huh, look at that, I'm not totally worthless after all" kinda feeling. I read it again recently and felt that again. I'm sure many of you have already read this, but for those of you who haven't it's WELL worth it.On more than one occasion I have walked up three flights of stairs while carrying my purse, the diaper bag, bags of groceries, and a baby in my arms, while holding the hands of BOTH of the older kids too. It's actually quiet exhilerating! Gives me a feeling of accomplishment every time. And oh, they're certainly worth it. They bring such joy and purpose in my life, I am so grateful for them and I realize just how blessed I am. These children are the light of my life.

---

In case you can't read the small print in the picture, here's the article again:

Carolyn Hax

Tell Me About It

Daily Herald, May 23, 2007 Pg. B6

"Carolyn:

Best friend has child. Her: exhausted, busy, no time for self, no time for me, etc. Me (no kids): Wow. Sorry. What'd you do today? Her: Park, play group...

Okay, I've done Internet searches; I've talked to parents. I don't get it. What do stay-at-home moms do all day? Please no lists of library, grocery store, dry cleaners... I do all those things too, and I don't do them EVERY DAY. I guess what I'm asking is: What is a typical day, and why don't moms have time for a call or e-mail? I work and am away from home nine hours a day (plus a few late work events). I manage to get it all done. I'm feeling like the kid is an excuse to relax and enjoy -- not a bad thing at all -- but if so, why won't my friend tell me the truth? Is this a peeing contest ("my life is so much harder than yours")? What's the deal? I've got friends with and without kids, and us child-free folks get the same story and have the same questions."

--Tacoma, Wash

"Relax and enjoy. You're funny.

Or, you're lying about having friends with kids.

Or you're taking them at their work that they actually have kids, because you haven't personally been in the same room with them.

Internet searches?

I keep wavering between giving you a straight answer and giving my forehead some keyboard. To claim you want to understand, while in the same breath implying that the only logical conclusions are that your mom-friends are either lying or competing with you, is disingenuous indeed.

So, since it's validation you seem to want, the real answer is what you get. In list form. When you have young kids, your typical day is: constant attention, from getting them out of bed, fed, clean, dressed; to keeping them out of harm's way; to answering their coos, cries, questions; to having two arms and carrying one kids, one set of car keys, and supplies for even the quickest trips, including the latest-to-be-declared-essential piece of molded plastic gear; to keeping them from unshelving books at the library; to enforcing rest times; to staying one step ahead of them lest they get too hungry, tired or bored, any one of which produces the kind of checkout-line screaming that gets the checkout line shaking its head.

It's needing 45 minutes to do what takes others 15.

It's constant vigilance, constant touch, constant use of your voice, constant relegation of your needs to the second tier.

It's constant scrutiny and second-guessing from family and friends, well meaning and otherwise. It's resisting constant temptation to seek short-term relief at everyone's long-term expense.

It's doing all this while concurrently teaching virtually everything -- language, manners, safety, resourcefulness, discipline, curiosity, creativity. Empathy. Everything.

It's also a choice, yes. And a joy. But if you spent all day, every day, with this brand of joy, and then, when you got your first 10 minutes to yourself, wanted to be alone with your thoughts instead of calling a good friend, a good friend wouldn't judge you, complain about you to mutual friends, or marvel how much more productively she uses her time. Either make a sincere effort to understand, or keep your snit to yourself."

California Trip 2

Okay, here's the rest of the pictures. There's a ton, I know. :)
Grandma took the kids outside to blow bubbles in the backyard.

Hanging out with grandma

Grandma and Grandpa with the kids.

There aren't many pictures of Cosette because she's at that age where she doesn't want to stay still for a picture and my camera isn't good enough to get her on the move.

Trip 1

Well, I'm finally getting around to posting some pictures about our trip to California to visit Chad's mom. I put them in collages because there are so many. I have a lot more but I figured I'd post these ones now.

Grandma and Grandpa Westerson were SO GOOD to the kids! The kids loved the attention and love that they gave them!The first thing we did when we got there was take a swim in their pool. It felt wonderful! Their backyard is beautiful so being out there is very calming and peaceful.
Cosette enjoying some space to explore in the backyard

Grandma was finally able to make cupcakes with Debbie!
We celebrated Isaac's birthday with the cupcakes. For some reason he was sad after blowing out the candles, but that was shortlived.

Isaac got some new clothes and a spiderman toy from Grandma and Grandpa, he loves that spiderman toy!

Grandma and Grandpa took Debbie and Isaac down to the park to play on Thursday. The kids really enjoyed the playground, especially the swings because we don't have those in our playground.

Cosette exploring again.