Halloween!

Zac took the kids out trick-or-treating last night.  It was pouring!  He brought Jennifer back after she got her bucket full and she was soaked.  He took Eric and Aubrey out in the car and had the kids fill up their buckets 4 more times each!  Oh my gosh - we have SO MUCH CANDY.  I don't know what he was thinking.  He kept on dumping their buckets into the car and the kids would start over.  We never go through what candy the kids get anyways - I am always throwing away tons of candy.  They were out for 3 1/2 hours total.  When Zac brought Jennifer back to me, Aubrey left her witches hat at home because it was wet.  Jennifer freaked out that Aubrey left her hat.  Every time someone came to our house, she would run up to the door with Aubrey's hat and yell at them, "Aubrey hat!  Aubrey gone!  Oh no!  HAT!" 

2nd grade program

On Monday night we took the kids to the Bean Museum for the "Spooky Night."  It was SO PACKED there!  I have never seen so many people at the museum before!  They had spooky crafts (making spiders out of piper cleaners), spooky photos with wolves, penguins and bats (weird combination) and a spooky animal show in the auditorium.  We sat in our seats for 20 minutes for this show.  I thought it was going to be like the reptile show with live animals.  Nope.  Only the stuffed animals that they talked briefly about.  Total show time: 15 minutes.  We saved our seats longer than the show was.  The kids had a great time though.  They had a scavenger hunt too that took you around the museum looking for specific animals.

Last night was Eric's 2nd grade program.  His grade put on a spooky performance and sang songs for 1/2 hour.  Eric was excited because he was one of the kids that got to smack the skeletons bones together.

This morning we had our semi-annual dentist trip.  Nobody had cavities again, and we had Eric get sealants on his 6 year-old molars.  We are trying to use up as much insurance of Zac's as we can in these last two days!  j/k

Carving Pumpkins

We carved the kids pumpkins tonight.  They have been begging me to carve them since they picked them.  Since Halloween is only a week away, I finally gave in.  Jennifer fell asleep before her pumpkin was finished.  Last night was our ward's "Trunk or Treat."  It was pouring rain outside so they quickly moved it inside the church.  They had a dinner after passing out the candy.  There were so many people there, it was chaos.  We were sitting at a table with our neighbors and they started talking about how they might sneak out to eat at In n Out.  They asked me if we wanted to go.  Zac hates going out to eat.  I told them that, and when Zac came back to the table, we mentioned the idea and Zac stood right up and said "Let's go!"  While we were driving there, I asked him what made him say yes.  He said, "I hate going out to eat, BUT I hate crowds even more."  Yes!  It was a good night with good conversation, and less chaos. 

Zac finished up the driveway on Thursday, right before the storms started to hit.  He also sealed our driveway.  I went to a funeral on Saturday of the Chair of the Paralegal Division.  She passed away in a plane crash back in August on her way to hike Mt. Everest.  Her family was finally able to get her body back to Utah.  I saw people from work there.  I really have not missed work.  I went to work today to restock my office with snacks and treats.  I just can't believe I will be there next week. 

I made Dad's roast today for Sunday dinner.  After him being gone for a year, I think I FINALLY have it down along with his gravy.  We also had corn and my homemade wheat rolls with dinner.  Yum!  Later on, the kids and I made chocolate chip cookies.  I think something about the cold weather brings out the cooking bug in me.

2 Weeks Notice

I go back to work on November 1st.  Crazy!  Time has flown so fast!  For over a year, Zac has been trying to get into a different job.  We have thought about ALL avenues we could think of.  He has applied over and over to places, and only obtained 2 interviews.  The economy is so bad, that there would be over 100 people applying to these jobs.  Zac was able to take a month off right when I had Lily.  It was so nice - that time flew by too!  The first day back to work for Zac was literally HELL for him.  I won't get into those details, but as soon as he got home, we started going through our finances.  We have figured out a way to have Zac be a stay-at-home Dad for the next five years.  We have constantly had the stress of what Zac needs to do - go in the military? get a paralegal job? retake the LSAT and try for law school again?  As soon as we made this decision, we have felt great!  The weight seems to have lifted off both of our shoulders.  I've had comments from some neighbors even saying the mood in our house is lighter.

I am so excited for this to happen.  Obviously, we would rather have ME be the one staying home, but the way it is right now, by the time Zac makes what I make financially, the kids will be in school before I am able to stay home.  This is the right decision for our family.  Here are the things I'm looking forward to:
- only getting myself ready in the morning, and not all four kids
- commuting - my work pays for a UTA bus pass, and there is an express bus that picks up by my house and drops me off right in front of my work.
- homework, cleaning, and grocery shopping will be done by the time I get home
- we can actually spend our weekends DOING something rather than cleaning, grocery shopping, etc.
- Having the kids sleep in past 5 am, and being able to play with their friends around the neighborhood.  They have never been able to do this since I have needed to take them to daycare since they were born.
- the kids won't get every single sickness that is going around the daycare

There are more, but those are the major points.  Zac put in his 2 weeks notice on Monday.  It blind sided everyone, which is what he was hoping for.  The best part is that another employee put his 2 weeks notice in a couple hours before Zac, and we had no idea.  Carma.  That is all I have to say about that.  Zac is really excited to stay home.  He has asked me to put together a cleaning list, meal list, etc, of what I expect to be done during the day.  Done!  Gladly!  He is planning on taking the girls to story hours at the library, getting another family pass to Thanksgiving Point, etc.  We feel like by Zac leaving his job, he can pretty much do anything!  He wants to go back to school and get a 2nd Bachelor's Degree in those five years.  He can do courses online, at nights and weekends.  It has been a kind of bittersweet feeling around the house.  Zac has been counting down for the last 2 months for November 1st, while I have been trying to forget how close it's coming.  It has been really nice being home.  I have a great routine down with the kids and the house which I hope is easy for Zac to pick up.  It has been so nice to have the biggest stress of my day be "what's for dinner?"  So different from life at work.  Yes, it's busy taking care of the house, but I'm used to doing BOTH.

Last weekend was Fall Break for the kids.  We took the kids out to eat at Macaroni Grill and then Zac went to his Mom's while I took the kids to Jump on It.  I should have thought about taking a 2 year old with a nursing baby there.  When I had to feed Lily, that was precisely the moment that Jennifer decided it would be fun to jump with the big kids.  I can't exactly go run after her.  So then I watched Eric and Aubrey try to wrangle her down back to the tots area.   At the end of the hour, Aubrey got kicked in the eye by Eric (accident of course), Eric got 'road rash' on his foot, and Jennifer had bonked her head.  So maybe this is why Zac hates trampolines so much?!  Also during the weekend, Zac decided to extend our driveway out.  He has been collecting bags of cement for awhile now - he buys the ripped bags at Home Depot and Lowes for a discounted price.  Our neighbor was kind enough to let him use his cement mixer, and Zac was able to pour 35 bags of concrete.  He has about 20 more bags to go, and is hoping to finish it up this weekend.

Lily's Blessing

Zac blessed Lily this morning.  He did a really great job!  We had a lot of support from family show up.  For my journal purposes, the following came: Barbara, Cory, Grandpa Parry, Devin, Nathan's family, Gockley family, Conklin family, Coole family and my cousin Stephanie.  I was really surprised to see Nathan there.  He is working today, and I saw him sneak in wearing his UHP uniform.  He was on a quick break and stopped by.  The kids had a great time playing with all their cousins afterward at our house for lunch.  I meant to take more pictures during lunch of everyone, but got distracted and forgot until now.  These are the first family pictures with Lily in them.  I put both up because Eric is closing his eyes in the first one, but Jennifer is looking away on the second one. 

There are 3 families here in Eagle Mountain that decided to plant a pumpkin patch in their combined lots.  Anyone can go and pick out pumpkins there, they have a lock box at the front and you donate as much or little as you want for the pumpkins.  They donate 100% of the money that they get to the Church's Perpetual Education Fund.  What a great idea!  So we took the kids there last night to get their pumpkins.  They had fun picking out the pumpkins they wanted and clipping them off the vines.  We made them each put the money in the box for their pumpkins. 

I am still doing the "Insanity" workout program every day.  After my workout, I routinely drink a Muscle Milk.  My kids are always wanting them because they look like they come in a juice box.  Anyways, the other day, I was beginning my workout and Eric asked me if he did the ENTIRE workout, could he have a Muscle Milk?  I told him that he could.  He got 3 minutes into the warm-up and stopped, looked at me and said, "NOT WORTH IT!"  Good!  Those things are expensive! :)

Lily had her 8 week check-up on Friday.  Which means she got shots.  Which means she is grumpy.  But her stats are as follows:
Length: 23 1/4 inch (90%)
Weight: 11.13 lbs (75%)
Head circ.: 37 1/2 cm (25%)

She has the smallest head out of all our kids.  She looks normal though.

Timp. Caves

We took the kids up to the Timpanogos Caves today.  They were super excited to go. We checked Eric out of school early to get a good start on the hike.  It's been forever since I've been there, and for some reason I thought you could take a stroller all the way up.  Nope!  Not even a little bit.  Zac had Jennifer on his shoulders the entire hike up and back.  While we were in the caves, Aubrey stood under one of the stalactites and held her mouth open so it would drip into her mouth.  GROSS!  Eric said he didn't like walking all the way up and down, but the caves were so worth it.  It was beautiful weather today.  I've been going a little stir crazy in the house so the hike was very much needed.

September

We took the kids up to Provo Canyon last night to Bridal Veil Falls.  We were going to roast hot dogs over the fire, but this year they had a "no fire" rule.  The kids still had fun though.  There were so many people up there!  I've never seen it so busy!  I love going up the canyons - I wish we had time to go more.  You can't tell by the pictures, but Jennifer WAS happy while we were there, she just hates the camera!  As soon as we pulled it out she yells, "NO PICTURE!"  Then as soon as we were done, she was happy again.

Aubrey started gymnastics last week.  There are 4 neighbor girls that are all in the same class, and I was able to get her in.  She LOVES it!  She is a little behind since the others have been taking it for a year now.  She is starting to learn cartwheels and can do it with her knees bent.  We've been practicing at home to keep her legs straight.  She giggles the entire time she is at gymnastics.  She thinks everything that her teacher is asking her to do is silly.  They have her do the uneven bars, the balance beam, and tumbling.

We went bowling for FHE on Monday.  Apparently the batteries in my camera were dead.  I was able to turn it on and took a picture of Eric.  As soon as I hit the button, my camera went black and the screen said "replace batteries."  I didn't think I even got this picture.  The kids loved bowling for the first game.  We had coupons for "buy one game get one free", and by the time we started over for the 2nd game, all they wanted to do was play the arcades.  I love how they have this ramp for the bowling ball - it made it so Jennifer could actually participate too.  Earlier in the day, I finally started working out.  I held off until I was 5 weeks postpartum which was hard to do.   Zac had purchased the "Insanity" program awhile back, which is basically a boot camp type of work out that is INSANE.  So I started "Insanity" on Monday afternoon - it is a full hour of cardio.  I thought when I was finished that I had stretched well.  Anyways, while we were bowling, as soon as we started the 2nd game, I went to bowl and pulled my hamstring!  What?  How embarrassing.  Who knew bowling used your hamstring?  So I had to sit out the rest of the game.  Then about on the 5th frame, Zac twisted his wrist wrong.  He just turned to me and said, "Man, we are getting OLD!"  I can't believe we both got hurt while BOWLING!

I've continued working out every day though, and haven't pulled anything else.  I have played volleyball quite a bit too.  It's nice to finally start feeling like yourself again!  It was really hard not to work out, I felt like I was in a slump.  It's been great too for these restless nights with Lily.  Since I can't drink caffeine, exercising seems to be the only thing that can "wake" me up.  Lily turns 6 weeks tomorrow!  The time has flown! (Except at night.)  Here are some quick pics of her.  She looks SO MUCH like Jennifer it's crazy - but Lily can cry louder.

Aubrey's 1st day

Aubrey started school on Wednesday.  We waited outside her classroom to get a picture with her and Mrs. Bean, but by the time the bell rang, it was a little too hectic.  So this is Aubrey sitting at her desk.  I'm sad I didn't get the whole outfit.  Aubrey put a belt on her shirt.  I asked her why and she said, "MOM - it's fashion."  She had to have "princess sparkles" in her hair (which is glitter spray).  While we were riding our bikes to school her hair sparkled so much that all the Mom's commented on it.  Aubrey was upset that no kids said anything, only the Mom's.  Zac goes back to work on Tuesday - Lily will be a month old on Monday.  It's been great having him here for those extra 2 weeks, I know he is dreading going back to work on Tuesday.  It's amazing how fast the week goes by when you don't have to work!  In other news - our first volleyball game is Thursday!  That is all.

2 weeks old

Lily turned 2 weeks old on Monday.  Lisa was able to come down from Idaho and take some pictures of her last Sunday.  I have posted some of my favorites that she took.  My brother-in-law Matt is here visiting from Guam and he touched them up with photoshop for me.  Zac's Grandpa Dearstyne passed away a week ago.  His funeral was in Connecticut. Matt was able to fly to Connecticut to attend the funeral, and on his way back to Guam he decided to break up the flight by hanging out with us for the week. 

Lily's 2 week stats are as follows:
 Length: 21 inches - 75% (She grew an inch)
Weight: 7 lb 13 oz - 33% (She gain 4 oz)
Head circ: 35 cm - 21 %

This appointment was also Jennifer's 2 year old appointment.  Her stats are as follows:
Length: 37 1/4 inches - 99%
Weight: 29 lb 8 oz - 83%
Head Circ: 47 cm - 41%

When we brought Lily home, I couldn't believe how big Jennifer's head looked.  Glad to know that she is a little "below average" on her head size because it looks HUGE to me!  Right now Zac is holding Lily.  Jennifer just came into the room and started crying/screaming, "NO!  My dad!"  Out of all the kids she is having the hardest time adjusting to our new addition.  She has also definitely hit her terrible two's with full stride.  If we take our eyes off her for 2 seconds she is into something. 

I forgot to post pics of Lily's last day in the hospital, so that is what these pictures are from.

Eric started school this week.  He has Mrs. Bean for 2nd grade.   His friend from across the street is in his class, so he was really excited.  So far the week went well.  Aubrey doesn't start Kindergarten until Wednesday.  She has Mrs. Earl.  We went in for her Kindergarten assessment and Mrs. Earl was telling us that Aubrey would have to read the list that she had in order to move onto 1st grade.  Aubrey looked at the list and started reading all the words!  She is SO EXCITED to go to school.  Hopefully it won't be too slow for her since she has already accomplished what she needs to move onto 1st grade. 

Lisa was able to win tickets to the Five-for-Fighting concert on Wednesday.  Zac was willing to watch Lily for me so I could go.  It was fantastic!  We thought that it was at the Energy Solutions Arena.  So Matt and I parked at my work and took Trax a couple blocks over.  Justin and Lisa were waiting for us at the Steakhouse in the Gateway.  The concert was in the restaurant!  We walked in and it was catered, we sat at a table and there were only about 20 people there.  It was a private acoustic concert!  I felt like I was at a MTV Unplugged episode.  He talked with all of us, answering questions, signing autographs, taking pictures, etc.  If I would have known that's what this was, I would have definitely "primped" up a little bit.  I was thinking we were going to be around thousands of people at the Energy Solutions Arena.

So Zac decided that while on paternity leave, he is going to grow a beard.  He wanted me to post a pic of his beard.   This is after 2 weeks of growing it out.  I hate facial hair - I don't know why, I just do.  He shaved it off on Monday - YAY!  So far this paternity leave Zac has: planted 6 trees; order 4 tons of gravel and put them around the trees and garden; took the garden down and rototilled it; faced the retaining wall; stained our neighbors fence; and dug out under the deck for a "new room".  And he feels like he hasn't done anything this entire time home.  in addition he has taken the kids to the movies, and helped around the house. He goes back to work the day after Labor Day.  Time has seriously flown by.  He and I both thought that he would be going crazy being at home for a month, but it feels like it has only been a week!  There is still so much to do around the house/yard.

Lily Kristine Nielson

Lily Kristine Nielson was born 08/09/10 at 4:36 pm, weighing 7 lbs 9 oz, 20 inches long. 

The doctor broke my water at 8 am yesterday morning.  It took him awhile to break it but he finally got it.  They started the pitocin drip at 8:30am.  I was having good contractions almost immediately.  About 11 am I asked for the epidural and got it about an hour later.  The entire time I was having contractions, Lily's heartrate would drop down into the 60s-70s, when it should be between 130-150s.  They put me on oxygen to see if that would help.  Nope.  We kept on switching sides for me to lay on to see if that would help.  Nope.  They inserted an internal heartrate and contraction monitor.  Then they decided to put fluid back INTO my cervix to act like my water hadn't broken.  That didn't work either.  In fact, there wasn't anything coming back out, so they were just filling my uterus up which is a problem.  My blood pressure at this time was 80/40.  So they came into my room and gave me a shot to STOP the contractions.  They also gave me a shot for my blood pressure.  Soon after, my doctor showed up and threatened me with an emergency c-section.  They decided to stop the contractions for 10 minutes to see if Lily's heart would go back up.  It did.  So they started the pitocin drip again.  They only wanted to try it for 10 minutes to see what would happen.  When they started the drip again I was only dilated to a 4 1/2.  As soon as they walked out of the room, I told Zac that I hurt like crazy!  I was afraid the epidural wore off.  I told him to get the nurse.  He didn't believe me, but I told him again.  She came in, and I was at a 10.  The doctor came in and was in disbelief.  They even had gotten out the gown for Zac for the c-section and were prepping the O.R. to monitor me in there.  It only took 1 push and she was out!  She swallowed A LOT of fluid.  They had to pump 8 cc of fluid from her stomach immediately, and they pumped her again in the nursery.  We found out that I had a partial placenta abruption, and that is why she was having such a hard time.  (That is when the placenta detaches itself away from the uterine wall before delivery.) 

She had a really hard time breathing.  They told me it was because she swallowed so much fluid.  Her lungs were retracting, her nostrils were flaring, and she was grunting like crazy.  They took her away after I got a brief moment to hold her.  Zac went with them while they were monitoring her.  I finally got to see her again 4 hours later.  As soon as I had her though, she started grunting again, lungs retracting and nostrils flaring.  So they came and took her away again for another hour.  They said they were going to have to CPAP her (?).  When they brought her back, she finally seemed to have gotten the hang of breathing.  I was able to finally nurse her for the first time this morning at 1 am.  She is doing MUCH better today, and hasn't had any issues this morning.

The kids were able meet their new baby sister this morning.  They were more excited about the presents Lily got them than meeting her.  I am so grateful she is doing so well this morning and pray she continues.  She was by far my hardest pregnancy and labor.  I'm glad she's finally here, and that she completes our family.