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| Hunter's ready to go. |
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| Talan was too tall for his bike. We quickly realized that this bike won't last Talan too long, but at least there will be two other boys who can ride it as well. |
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| We're ready to go! |
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| Going down the hill is the best part. |
Friday, December 30, 2011
First Bike Rides
After many days of playing with toys inside, we took the boys on their first bike rides around the block this evening on their new bikes.
The boys really enjoyed the walk. However, Kenton apparently thought walking around the block was too much.
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
A Kenton Update
So, I have a tendency to overdo it. I love to be lazy and not do anything, as long as it is my idea. However, if it's not my idea, I hate it. It's also especially difficult to take it easy when I have two kids running around, working full time the week before break, just got back from a weekend at the Polar Express, planning Talan's birthday party, and preparing for Christmas all at the same time.
I had been feeling really good in the weeks before December 19th. I had more energy and was able to get a lot accomplished at home and at work. I should have known better, though. After a fun weekend up north and then cleaning when we got home, I was very tired Sunday night. The only problem was that I was about to start a really crazy, chaotic week. As anyone with kids knows, the week before Christmas is filled with lots of energy and excitement. Being a teacher, I knew this was going to be a a long week. Not only that, but we had Talan's birthday on Tuesday and our sitter's Christmas party on Thursday afternoon. In addition, Aaron was super stressed out with finals at his school and needing to get his grading done.
I made it through Monday with no problems. I got home, had my 17 P injection, and relaxed.
Tuesday was Talan's birthday. I felt great during the day. I picked the boys up after school and took them to the doctor for Talan's 4 year well-check. (He checked out great. He's in the 9% for height and 6% for weight.. This is no surprise, though.). Afterwards, Talan wanted to go to IHOP for his birthday dinner. We met "Aunt" Amanda, Cooper, Nana, Papa, Grandma Faye, Uncle Adrian, and Aunt Michelle for dinner. By the end of dinner, I was contracting and needing to go home. When we got home, I laid on my left side, drank some water, and tried to relax. Luckily, everything calmed down and I headed to bed.
Wednesday was a great day at work. I was feeling pretty decent, but tired by the end, which was to be expected. When I was getting the kids out of the car after picking them up, I started feeling some tightening in my stomach. Something didn't seem quite right, so I put a call into my doctor and tried to take it easy. As the night went on, I was starting to contract pretty regularly and they were getting stronger and lower. I drank four cups of water, laid down for an hour or two, but this didn't seem to stop the contractions like it normally does. I decided that we probably needed to head to OB triage to get things checked out.
After dropping the kids off at my mom's for an impromptu sleep over, we headed to triage around 8 o'clock. To make a long story short, they ran some tests and checked me out. I was dilated to a 1, but since I've delivered two other children, they don't know if everything didn't completely close back up or if I, in fact, dilated some. The good news is that I was 0% effaced. They also ran another test that would tell whether or not I would be in labor within the next two weeks - it came back negative. While this was all going on, the contractions slowed a bit and weren't nearly as strong as what they were. They gave me a pill called Nephetapine to slow the contractions and sent me home. The pill did the trick and all was calm by the time we went to bed around 11:30.
I went to work the next day since it was a 1 o'clock dismissal. I did my best to take it easy and my kids were extremely well-behaved. We had a great celebration and book exchange. After the kids left, I spent some extra time in my room cleaning things up and making sure everything was ready to teach the first day after break, just in case.
I went to my OB on Friday morning to follow-up after Wednesday's ordeal. Unfortunately, I saw a nurse and didn't actually get to talk to my doctor. I was told to try to avoid things that tend to cause me to contract and to take it easy ... no bed rest yet and to follow up with my doctor in another two weeks.
On Christmas morning, I woke up with a headache. I figured it was from exhaustion from doing so much, but then my eye sight became blurry. The blurry vision passed and the day went on as normal. By the evening, my head was still hurting and my eyes became blurry again, although not as bad. Knowing that preeclampsia is a possibility with the extra protein in the amniotic fluid, I became a little worried. Since I had an appointment the following day with my nurse to receive my 17 P injection, I tried not to worry about it too much. When she is here, she always checks my blood pressure and listens to Kenton's heartbeat. Luckily, my blood pressure was normal. In fact, it was on the low side of normal. I've never been one to be a hypochondriac. However, this pregnancy is making me into one!
Since then, things have been rather calm. Luckily, I have two weeks off from work and can pace my activities a bit. I do things for a while and then sit and rest. Tonight I started to tighten and contract a bit after vacuuming, but it subsided once I sat down. Next Thursday, January 5th, I have an appointment with my actual OB doctor in the morning, which hopefully will give me some more answers and instructions. Later on that afternoon, we have a growth ultrasound scheduled for Kenton to ensure he is developing on track.
It has also been four weeks since the latest genetic test was ordered on Kenton's amniotic fluid. We were told that the test should take three to four weeks. This test was supposed to tell us whether Kenton had a different type of genetic kidney disorder. So, assuming the holidays haven't interrupted the test in anyway, we should have some more news on Kenton's diagnosis this week hopefully.
I had been feeling really good in the weeks before December 19th. I had more energy and was able to get a lot accomplished at home and at work. I should have known better, though. After a fun weekend up north and then cleaning when we got home, I was very tired Sunday night. The only problem was that I was about to start a really crazy, chaotic week. As anyone with kids knows, the week before Christmas is filled with lots of energy and excitement. Being a teacher, I knew this was going to be a a long week. Not only that, but we had Talan's birthday on Tuesday and our sitter's Christmas party on Thursday afternoon. In addition, Aaron was super stressed out with finals at his school and needing to get his grading done.
I made it through Monday with no problems. I got home, had my 17 P injection, and relaxed.
Tuesday was Talan's birthday. I felt great during the day. I picked the boys up after school and took them to the doctor for Talan's 4 year well-check. (He checked out great. He's in the 9% for height and 6% for weight.. This is no surprise, though.). Afterwards, Talan wanted to go to IHOP for his birthday dinner. We met "Aunt" Amanda, Cooper, Nana, Papa, Grandma Faye, Uncle Adrian, and Aunt Michelle for dinner. By the end of dinner, I was contracting and needing to go home. When we got home, I laid on my left side, drank some water, and tried to relax. Luckily, everything calmed down and I headed to bed.
Wednesday was a great day at work. I was feeling pretty decent, but tired by the end, which was to be expected. When I was getting the kids out of the car after picking them up, I started feeling some tightening in my stomach. Something didn't seem quite right, so I put a call into my doctor and tried to take it easy. As the night went on, I was starting to contract pretty regularly and they were getting stronger and lower. I drank four cups of water, laid down for an hour or two, but this didn't seem to stop the contractions like it normally does. I decided that we probably needed to head to OB triage to get things checked out.
After dropping the kids off at my mom's for an impromptu sleep over, we headed to triage around 8 o'clock. To make a long story short, they ran some tests and checked me out. I was dilated to a 1, but since I've delivered two other children, they don't know if everything didn't completely close back up or if I, in fact, dilated some. The good news is that I was 0% effaced. They also ran another test that would tell whether or not I would be in labor within the next two weeks - it came back negative. While this was all going on, the contractions slowed a bit and weren't nearly as strong as what they were. They gave me a pill called Nephetapine to slow the contractions and sent me home. The pill did the trick and all was calm by the time we went to bed around 11:30.
I went to work the next day since it was a 1 o'clock dismissal. I did my best to take it easy and my kids were extremely well-behaved. We had a great celebration and book exchange. After the kids left, I spent some extra time in my room cleaning things up and making sure everything was ready to teach the first day after break, just in case.
I went to my OB on Friday morning to follow-up after Wednesday's ordeal. Unfortunately, I saw a nurse and didn't actually get to talk to my doctor. I was told to try to avoid things that tend to cause me to contract and to take it easy ... no bed rest yet and to follow up with my doctor in another two weeks.
On Christmas morning, I woke up with a headache. I figured it was from exhaustion from doing so much, but then my eye sight became blurry. The blurry vision passed and the day went on as normal. By the evening, my head was still hurting and my eyes became blurry again, although not as bad. Knowing that preeclampsia is a possibility with the extra protein in the amniotic fluid, I became a little worried. Since I had an appointment the following day with my nurse to receive my 17 P injection, I tried not to worry about it too much. When she is here, she always checks my blood pressure and listens to Kenton's heartbeat. Luckily, my blood pressure was normal. In fact, it was on the low side of normal. I've never been one to be a hypochondriac. However, this pregnancy is making me into one!
Since then, things have been rather calm. Luckily, I have two weeks off from work and can pace my activities a bit. I do things for a while and then sit and rest. Tonight I started to tighten and contract a bit after vacuuming, but it subsided once I sat down. Next Thursday, January 5th, I have an appointment with my actual OB doctor in the morning, which hopefully will give me some more answers and instructions. Later on that afternoon, we have a growth ultrasound scheduled for Kenton to ensure he is developing on track.
It has also been four weeks since the latest genetic test was ordered on Kenton's amniotic fluid. We were told that the test should take three to four weeks. This test was supposed to tell us whether Kenton had a different type of genetic kidney disorder. So, assuming the holidays haven't interrupted the test in anyway, we should have some more news on Kenton's diagnosis this week hopefully.
Christmas Day
We had a very relaxing Christmas. In fact, I called it "Jammie Christmas." I was determined to relax, be comfortable, and just enjoy watching the kids play with their new toys. Grandma Faye, Nana Rockey, and Papa Monroe joined us. Grandpa Rollins and Betty stopped by for a bit as well. I made an egg casserole for breakfast and then we had fresh ham sandwiches for lunch/dinner. This made for easy clean-up and a lot of lounging time!
Here are some pictures of our day and the gifts the kids and adults got. Beware: the boys pajamas got mixed up the night before and neither were willing to change once we realized the mistake. So, Talan is wearing 2T jammies, while Hunter is wearing 4T jammies. I guess it just makes for better memories, right?
This is what our Christmas tree looked like after Santa brought the boys' bikes and we wrapped all of the other gifts.
Talan was very excited to see a bike for him under the tree. In fact, he had to try it out right away! I guess this was good, since Hunter was still sleeping.
I finally decided to wake Hunter up around 8:15. He received quite the greeting!
Wow!
After a quick ride around the kitchen, the serious opening began.
Hunter had to open Daddy's gift too. He was very excited to show me what Daddy got.
We received our first Christmas present from Talan, now that he's in preschool.
So precious!
The grandparents then arrived. We ate breakfast and started round 2 and 3 of opening.
Talan got a game for the Kinect.
Talan also found a new use for the tinsel from the Christmas tree.
I hope everyone was able to relax and enjoy Christmas with the ones they love (or some of them at least). It's so easy to get caught up in the chaos of Christmas, rather than reflecting on the true gift we were given that day. Happy Birthday, Jesus!
Here are some pictures of our day and the gifts the kids and adults got. Beware: the boys pajamas got mixed up the night before and neither were willing to change once we realized the mistake. So, Talan is wearing 2T jammies, while Hunter is wearing 4T jammies. I guess it just makes for better memories, right?
This is what our Christmas tree looked like after Santa brought the boys' bikes and we wrapped all of the other gifts.
I finally decided to wake Hunter up around 8:15. He received quite the greeting!
The grandparents then arrived. We ate breakfast and started round 2 and 3 of opening.
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As we were cleaning up and putting away Christmas decorations yesterday, we noticed that we forgot two presents from Nana.
I hope everyone was able to relax and enjoy Christmas with the ones they love (or some of them at least). It's so easy to get caught up in the chaos of Christmas, rather than reflecting on the true gift we were given that day. Happy Birthday, Jesus!
Rockey Cousin Christmas
When we were kids, Christmas Eve was always spent at my Grandma and Grandpa Rockey's house. We would have a nice meal, open presents, put out luminaries, look at Christmas lights, and sing Christmas carols. With just the four cousins left, we want to carry on that tradition as much as possible. Unfortunately, Travis, Emily, and Claire couldn't make it this year. However, we still continued some old traditions, as well as started a few of our own.
We started with having a yummy meal cooked by Debbie. What would a holiday be without a kids' table?
We then had the kids exchange presents.
We ended our celebration by singing Happy Birthday to Jesus and enjoying some yummy birthday cake. The candle is a nice touch, don't you think? :-)
While Debbie and her family headed over to celebrate with Heath's side of the family, Michelle's and my family headed to church. Although my pictures absolutely stink, the kids had a blast singing and dancing to the music. Since they usually are in their own classes, they loved being with us and did a great job sitting through the message.
We ended our evening by putting out luminaries at our house. When we were little, the entire Sun City West community would put out luminaries. It was so beautiful to see the neighborhood lined with candle light. I decided I wanted to do try this with our kids this year, in honor of our beloved and missed grandparents. Rather than using real tea lights, I opted for the LED version though.
We started by putting sand into the bags from the sandbox.
We then loaded the lights into the bags.
Finally, we lined our driveway with the luminaries. Please excuse the pictures ... I forgot to switch modes on my camera.
We started with having a yummy meal cooked by Debbie. What would a holiday be without a kids' table?
We then had the kids exchange presents.
We ended our celebration by singing Happy Birthday to Jesus and enjoying some yummy birthday cake. The candle is a nice touch, don't you think? :-)
While Debbie and her family headed over to celebrate with Heath's side of the family, Michelle's and my family headed to church. Although my pictures absolutely stink, the kids had a blast singing and dancing to the music. Since they usually are in their own classes, they loved being with us and did a great job sitting through the message.
We ended our evening by putting out luminaries at our house. When we were little, the entire Sun City West community would put out luminaries. It was so beautiful to see the neighborhood lined with candle light. I decided I wanted to do try this with our kids this year, in honor of our beloved and missed grandparents. Rather than using real tea lights, I opted for the LED version though.
We started by putting sand into the bags from the sandbox.
It was a great day, full of great memories. Even better, the kids were exhausted! They took a quick bath and went straight to sleep. Talan didn't wake up until 7:30 Christmas morning and I woke Hunter up at 8:15.
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