Summer

It’s been a slow start to summer up here in TL as usual. We have enjoyed a few beautiful days here and there. So, here is a video and pictures to share…

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Laguna Beach, California

We took a little vacation to southern California. Packed up the truck on Friday and delivered Adah to my parents and then left for Laguna Beach Saturday morning. We stopped in Mesquite, NV for a nights rest both there and back not my favorite place to be but good for a cheap nights stay while passing through. Gary attempted to win our gas money but failed. The kids did good with the long hours spent in the car. Owen was easy to please as long as we stopped to meet his needs. Our dvd player is out of commission so I was anxious about keeping Ellie entertained. I packed a bag full of surprises and snacks to keep her occupied. It worked like a charm she was easy to please as well. I did load up a bunch of her favorite TV episodes, music, and audio books onto my ipod and that was pulled out when we were desperate. All in all I’m proud of my little family for enduring a 14 plus hour drive.

We stayed in a great little hotel called the Tides (thanks for the info Charie). It was a cute little place that had been totally remodeled and updated. They had a fantastic pool area with a great grill area and fireplace. Our room also had a little kitchenette so we saved a lot of money by stocking up at the grocery store down the block and making all our meals. It was right on the Pacific Coast Highway and only a few blocks to the beach. So it worked out well we were able to walk every where we needed to. We will definitely be back there again.

We basically got up in the morning ate breakfast and went straight to the beach, then returned for lunch, kids and Gary took naps while I went out exploring (shopping), then back down to the beach in the afternoons. There was a great little park at Main beach that Ellie couldn’t get enough of. She made a lot of friends there. It was fun to watch her interact with the other kids. On the last day she made a good friend named Mackenzie they quickly became pals and gave a great big hug when it was time to go.   Ellie wasn’t to sure what to make of the waves at first. She was a little scared of the water the first day and just wanted to play in the sand and collect clam shells. On the second day I finally coaxed her out to the waves and we had a ball running out to them and then running back in away from them. She even got so brave she sat down in the waves at one point. The ocean is very foreign and intimidating to me so it was nice to see Ellie overcome the fear of the waves and get in there and enjoy it. We explored the tide pools a little bit as well, checked out all the shells, sea weed, and saw a few little crabs. I can decide which picture to put up of the 50 we have so I’ll do a little slide show…

Family Time

We had a family reunion last week.  Leslie, Mark, Bailey, and McKenna were here visiting from Germany. We had an excellent time with them at my Mom and Dad’s house. I stayed the whole week with Ellie and Owen. Gary came up on the weekends before and after. We were able to get together with our Jackson relatives to celebrate Great Grandpa’s 90 Birthday. It was a fun day and so great to get together with my cousins and their families. It was so great to hang out with the Frandsen’s, Mom and Dad, and my Brother Jon’s family too. It was a packed week with lots of shopping, playing, and eating.

Ellie had so much fun with her cousins she was so wiped out by the end of each day. We had a tie dye party, a tea party and a pizza party. Along with some Birthday celebrations and Mothers Day. Ellie and McKenna fast became best friends. Ellie followed her around and would repeat everything she was saying. One night they were in the bath together and suddenly Ellie started crying to get out saying she was scared. Mark asked McKenna what had happened and she said all she did was cross her eyes. So, Ellie doesn’t like crossed eyes they creep her out a little bit. Bailey tried it on her a little later and she still got upset. Such a funny thing to get scared over.

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Listen to Bailey in this video she had my Mom and I rolling and tearing up with that British accent.

Owen did very well too. He is such a good tempered baby so easy to please. He gave everyone some big smiles. We weighed him on the scale while there and found out he is a whopping 13 lbs. He is growing like a weed! His wee socks don’t fit him anymore. I almost feel like we skipped over the whole newborn phase with him save for the late night wake up calls. Although he is finally giving us 5 to 6 hours at night now.

I think a special shout out to my brother-in-law Mark is in order. We was so good to us all week driving us around from store to store, waiting patiently while we shopped, taking care of all the kids and lending a hand when in need. My sister is fortunate to have married such an awesome man. They are in Texas now as I type celebrating the completion of his dissertation. He has worked so hard the past few years to earn his PhD. We are all so proud of him. Check out the “Marcercial” the military  TV network did for him.

The Other Babies in our Lives

Ever since we played with chickens while care taking the Entrada Ranch near Moab Gary has wanted a flock of his own. So he decided this was the year. Ellie and Gary picked out 6 chicks to bring home the day we had to say good bye to Bada and Aunt Danielle. They lived in the house in a big box for almost two weeks. Now they are out in our shed in a homemade “box” with a warm lamp awaiting their coop. They are getting big now flying around in their wee space and chirping up a storm. Hopefully soon the weather will cooperate and we will get the coop-de-lux built. They have been fun and Ellie loves to check on them, feed them, and show them off. They are growing on me. I was expecting we would get 2 or 3 and was surprised with 6. I’m looking forward to fresh eggs. I love that they will eat up my kitchen scraps reducing the amount of garbage we contribute to the landfill. I also am thrilled for Ellie to have a hands on experience with raising chickens. There is much opportunity there for her to learn and discover. Wish us luck with our new little chicks.

Owen’s Birth Story

It has been two weeks now and I really need to write this down before my inherited bad memory looses the details. We are slowly finding a new rhythm in our home and I’m taking small steps to go out and conquer trips to the g-store, park, library, ect. I have been lucky to have a lot of help from Bada, Danielle, and my Mom these last two weeks. They have helped ease the transition. Gary has been awesome as well paying special attention to his little girl and waking up to burp or change Owen after a middle of the night feeding frenzy. And my little Owen, oh my little Owen he is such a good baby, he is content and peaceful. He doesn’t like the car seat too much perhaps he is just protesting the shopping like all the other men in my life.  He is trying to find a rhythm. Our nights have been a little inconsistent but he has given us some 4 hour rest every now and then. He is a chow hound and grows every day. He may even earn his Dad’s nick name “Beach” as in beach ball here pretty soon.

So, on to the birth story. On Monday the 22nd of March I had my weekly appointment with our midwife Danielle. We learned that my body was getting ready I was 70% effaced and dilated to a 3. So we went home knowing that he was getting ready to come out. I was feeling good and wanting to get things done before the big arrival. Bada and Danielle flew in on Wednesday after a 6 hour delay in the Detroit airport due to bad weather. We got home and settled in for the night and slept well.

Around 5:30 am Thursday morning I rolled over and told Gary I thought I was feeling contractions. We laid there for a while waiting for Ellie to wake up and trying to time my contractions. I finally got out of bed to start my day and the contractions weren’t going away. I called our MW Danielle and she said to wait until they were about 7 min apart. So, I continued waiting it out and trying to do normal things while Gary and Bada kept a close eye on me and Aunt Danielle played with Ellie. Finally the contractions got stronger and closer and we called the midwife who said to come in. Gary took Adah for a quick walk that didn’t feel so quick to me. Then we got in the car and drove with a quick pace to the hospital.

Danielle checked me as soon as I got there I was dilated to a 7 and totally effaced so we walked down to the maternity ward and checked in. It was about 10 am by that time. Once we were settled in the contractions became stronger and closer. I was having some back labor so I sat on a big exercise ball, which helped a lot. Ladies if you have back labor use this! It opened up my hips and relieved some of the pressure on my lower back. My dear sweet husband also helped by massaging my back and applying counter pressure. At this point I was starting to feel a little weak and tired and whoosy. I was getting what I call tunnel vision. I think my body was telling me to start to focus.

Around 11 am Danielle recommended that we break my water to help things move along. When she broke my water she saw there was Meconium (Owen had had a bowel movement). So she called in a respiratory specialist to be there when I delivered. As soon as she broke my water my contractions became exponentially more intense. They were very powerful and overwhelming. I was having a hard time wanting to move. I laid on my side for a little while and remember gripping the bed very tightly. Danielle was right there with a very soothing tone talking me through it and telling me how good we were doing. She was very comforting.

After a few of these crazy strong contractions, Danielle began to tell me to bare down and not fight against them. She encouraged me to work with my body, so I turned on to my back and began to push. Gary was by my side encouraging me as well. He didn’t have to say anything he just had to be there and hold my hand. Which I couldn’t let go of. I remember at one point Danielle asked him if he wanted to change positions a little bit and he tried but I had such a grip on his hand and I couldn’t let go. At this point I was aware of everything going on and everyone in the room but I could not respond to anything. My body was in control. It was the closest I will ever be to an out of body experience. It didn’t take long at 12:18 Owen was born. He cried immediately which was a good sign the Meconium wasn’t inhaled. The umbilical cord was “loosely” around his neck and one of his arms was in an awkward position when he was exiting that all made it a little tricky, but he came out fine and was immediately put on my chest for skin to skin contact while Gary helped cut the cord. He was checked over by the respiratory specialist and cleaned up a bit soon after.

In all I was in labor a total of 6ish hours. I had no medicated pain relief and Owen came into our world with out incident. It was a beautiful empowering experience to have a natural birth. We were very fortunate that the “planets lined up” that day and no obstacles were put in our way. Owen nursed right away and was alert and so healthy. My recovery was relatively quick as well. I felt fine and had energy and a veracious appetite. Most likely some endorphins left over. We stayed one night in the hospital and came home the next afternoon after passing all our tests and receiving important visits from Ellie, Bada, Aunt Danielle, and Grandma and Grandpa McKenney.