A Christmas Story

Hello there! Well I figure I should post something about Christmas before January is over. And if you're really lucky, you may just be able to read a catchup post before another 5 months passes.

So our Christmas was pretty eventful. It started Christmas Eve morning when Eliza woke up with a barking cough and trouble breathing. I figured it was the croup, so I took her to urgent care, hoping that they would be able to give her a breathing treatment, some steroids, and send us on our merry way - just like they did with Caleb when he had the croup at 12 months old.

They told me her case was a little more serious than they were equipped to handle, so they told me they would have to send her by ambulance to the nearest pediatric ER. So we get the ER, they give her some breathing treatments, some steroids, try 3 times to get an IV in her, and monitor her for the next couple of hours. Eliza was doing fairly well, and they were about to admit her and send her to to a room upstairs, when her breathing started getting really bad again. So the ER doc tells me he'd like to transfer her to a hospital that has a pediatric ICU just in case. (I would really like someone to tell me why they can't have a pediatric ER and and pediatric ICU at the same hospital? Anyone?)

hanging out on the bed at the ER

Three nurses trying to give her an IV

Exhausted, with a nice club on her arm

So we got to ride on another ambulance to another hospital, conveniently located 5 minutes from my parents house, where Christmas Eve dinner was being served. Meanwhile, my sweet husband is at home making the potato casserole, wrapping gifts, and getting the kids all prettied up for Christmas dinner.

They told me Eliza would have to stay at least one night. So at about 9 p.m. my sister came to the hospital to stay with Eliza while I went home to help Glen get things ready for Santa to come. At this point I started getting really depressed that I was going to miss Christmas morning with Caleb and Grace, and that Eliza was going to miss the whole thing. Glen video taped Christmas morning (sort of, I've always harassed him about his somewhat lacking videography skills...) and I watched it Christmas night.

On the second ambulance

hanging out in her jail cell, I mean crib

Look at those rolls!

We ended up staying 2 nights at the hospital, and went home Sunday morning. It was all a very exhausting and heartbreaking experience. It has taken her a few weeks to get used to sleeping again, but she is doing awesome now, and is just about the chubbiest baby you've ever seen!

Here are a few other pictures from the holiday:

Cousin Eli and Liza(before the illness). Liza was not happy about the hat; Eli had pretty much just succumbed to the humiliation.

The kids with the loot on Christmas morning!

Stay tuned for more pictures and updates from the last 5 months (I'll try to be somewhat brief).

Welcome Baby Eliza!

Eliza was born earlier this week, and we are all madly in love with her. Long story short: I was induced; it took forever; I threw up a LOT; and in the end, we have a little piece of heaven. Baby and Mom are doing well. Here are some pictures of her first days.

The obligatory belly shot, one week before she was born


On Oxygen. Baby's heart rate plummeted with my contractions, so they had to give me a shot to stop the contractions for a few hours.

I honestly did not expect this, but Caleb totally loves her! He likes to hold her and he says to her, "I love you, Eliza." So adorable.

This is Eliza's cousin Elijah (Eli) born three weeks earlier. Eli is my sister Melissa's little baby.

Welcome to the world, Eliza!

(In other news, we are living in Arizona now. Glen started his new job in June, and he is enjoying it. We are currently living with my parents. We have been trying to sell our house in Washington but are not having any luck, so now we are working on getting some renters. As soon as that happens, we'll look for a home here.)

Change is a Comin'

Lot's of things are going to be changing for us in the next couple of months. Next month, we will be going from this:

Goodbye Evergreen State....


To this:

Hello Valley of the Sun!

Glen has accepted an awesome position with a great company in Arizona, and will be starting next month! We will miss the beautiful Northwest. But we feel very blessed for this opportunity and look forward living close to so much of my family! Arizona is where I grew up, and boy have I been missing the sunshine! Although I am in for some serious climate shock, people, so wish me luck in doing the last 2 months of my pregnancy in 100 degree + weather.

Also, in an effort to get our house ready to sell, we are back to this:

This is the current state of my upstairs bathroom.


Glen is working like a madman again!

B.C.

A couple of weeks ago we piled in the van and took a little day drip up to Vancouver, British Columbia for the temple open house. It's about a 4 hour trip (including waiting to cross the border) each way. Whenever a new temple is built, it is open to the public for a few weeks before it is formally dedicated for worship. It's a great opportunity see the beauty of the interior, learn the purpose of each of the rooms, and to eat some mighty delicious cookies at the end. The Vancouver, B.C. temple was dedicated last Sunday, May 2nd.

The fam at the front door of the temple

Caleb sportin' his stylish booties (used to keep the carpets clean)

The kids were pretty well behaved for most of the trip. After the tour, Caleb and I went to find a potty before we headed home. While Glen and Grace waited in the hall, Grace broke into a mega tantrum. Caleb is naturally loud all the time anyway, and as we were headed out, I heard a missionary say "those are the loudest kids I have ever heard."





Do we get an award for that?

The Wheels on the Bus

This is Caleb's school bus coming down the road to drop him off. He started preschool back in February, and I had my doubts about whether or not he would actually get on the bus. We signed him up to ride the bus a few weeks after he started school, and each time the bus would come by to pick him up, he wanted nothing to do with it. The bright idea came to me, hey, I'll ride with him! I rode the bus to and from school with him for two days. Then we told him we'd take him to McDonald's for lunch as soon as he rode all by himself, and the next day my baby boarded the bus and drove off without me.

I totally bawled on Glen's shoulder after the bus rode away.

But now Caleb loves it, and it sure beats driving him to and from school every day!

Grace always waves very enthusiastically at the bus as it pulls up to drop him off.

(She also insists on dressing herself most mornings, and she's not much for color coordination)

Here he is, getting off the bus in his raggedy old jeans (he'd wear these pants every day if I let him)