Bball

Damon just finished his first season of basketball. It was very entertaining. Or torturous, depending on how you look at it. Damon is by no means the most skilled player on the team. He's also not the worst on his team. He's one of those kids that most of the parents who watched the game probably wouldn't be able to recognize once the game was over. He's just sort of there, not drawing attention to himself. And yes, sometimes playing with his hair.

The boys line up across from each other after every timeout and at the beginning of each quarter. This is so they know who they are supposed to be guarding. I know my nephew in Springville plays in a system of wristbands, where the man who is wearing your same color wristband is the man you are supposed to guard. Whatever works, I guess. Damon figured out the concept of guarding his man. He is an excellent "face guarder." Not so great at seeing where the ball is, but getting better.

The boys play on the skinny side of a junior high gym. And yet they are still playing 5 on 5. I think it's silly. I would suggest 4 on 4 on these little courts. I mean, no one is playing positions, so why cram 10 kids on half a court?

Also, there is no defending until the other team crosses the "half court" line. I do like this rule a lot, because it gives the kids a chance to actually play defense and not just steal the ball back and forth. And back and forth. Because you know that's what would happen.

A few things I didn't particularly care for:

1. Damon's coaches had the boys running a couple of plays, which is really cool. But the plays were usually for the "good" players and involved no passing whatsoever. Just clearing out or setting screens and letting the boys who could dribble and shoot a layup go to the basket. They worked well. But I would REALLY have loved to see some more passes. In this video clip, the tall boy actually passes the ball to Damon and Damon gets off a wild shot. I can't blame him for not being ready to catch the ball. This is probably one of 5 times (or fewer) anyone passed him the ball in 8 games.

2. 10 boys play on a team, and each boy is supposed to be guaranteed to play at least half the game. And for the most part, they did. BUT, when there were fewer than 10 boys, the coaches had to do some subbing. And the "good" players ALWAYS got to play significantly more than the rest of the boys. That was a little frustrating to me because how do you expect the other boys to get any better when they get to play so much less? Also, there were a couple of times when Damon got taken out of the game and he hadn't even played the full quarter. I know the coaches probably just lost track of who was supposed to be in when, but when he didn't even get to play half the game, it was frustrating.

3. It was, quite frankly, hard to watch Damon play. He tried hard and really improved, but he was so timid on the court. He has no killer instinct. He doesn't go get the ball. Which is why he only took a handful of shots all year, and most of those came from offensive rebounds. He did make one basket for his team (and one basket for the other team, a moment Jeff called "the low point of his fatherhood"), but mostly I just wanted to run out and tell Damon to be a LITTLE more aggressive. I guess I need to be more easy going as a sports mom. But it's hard.

I do think he'll play next year, because he seemed to really enjoy it. And, like football, he learned a lot about the game and wants to go to the church to practice with Jeff. So I count it as a positive experience.

This is just a random one I threw in because it makes me laugh. We had the scout Blue and Gold banquet last week and blue punch was served. Damon got a bit of a mustache.

LOVE

So, before Carter's croup so rudely interrupted my Valentine's bliss, I was mentally composing a post about all the things I love. And it was a good one. So clever and witty it would have made you laugh until a little pee came out. But you'll have to take my word on it, because I can literally remember none of it. Which means it probably wasn't really THAT good.

But I still wanted to write a little about the things I love. So, here goes "back up post that won't be as good as the one you were expecting."

THINGS THAT I LOVE

1. I love Snickers candy bars. And Oreos. And ice cream. I could eat them all every day if I allowed myself to have them in the house.

2. I love my iPhone. I never knew I needed one until I got one last year and now I fear I would be lost without it.

3. I love getting lost in a really good book. There are few things better in life.

4. I love watching basketball. I love playing basketball. I love March Madness.

5. I love quotable movies. I love that my siblings love that, too.

6. I love long, HOT showers and long HOT baths.

7. I love scoring great deals. And I love how that is becoming easier all the time with blogs, Facebook and the like.

8. I love piano music. I love listening to someone who is an amazing pianist. I love learning a song well enough that I can pretend I am an amazing pianist. And sometimes Alicia Keys, singing my little heart out.

9. I love a good juicy steak. And shrimp. And sushi.

10. I love the sunshine.

11. I love the number 11.

12. I love that my kids look alike. I love that they all have various shades of green (or blue) eyes like their daddy.

13. I love that my kids are all so different from one another. It makes me appreciate their little personalities so much more.

14. I love that my kids have each other. I always knew I wanted a big family, but sometimes I wonder what on earth I am doing with so many kids. Until I see them interacting, and laughing, and playing together. Then I remember.

15. I love that Jeff will watch The Bachelor with me and give his commentary on all the girls. And I love to remind him that he will probably never be chosen to BE the Bachelor because he has a wife and (almost) 5 kids.

16. I love that I'm so close with my brothers and sisters. I love that we can live far apart but still be such a huge part of each other's lives. I love knowing that they will always be there for me, and vice versa.

17. I love watching my baby grow up. I love watching him walk around the house naked or in only a diaper. He somehow manages to push both his belly and his behind out when he walks (presumably for balance), and it always makes me laugh. I love how he is getting so much better at walking and will wander in and out of every room in the house.

18. I love hearing my kids tell me they love me. I doubt I will ever get tired of it.

19. I love good friends who have helped me through so many challenges in life. I love knowing that even though time and distance may separate us, we will always stay close.

20. I love my life. I really do. Of course it's not perfect, and there are times I really wish I were someone (or somewhere) else, but mostly I feel so fortunate to have a life filled with satisfaction, enjoyment and, most of all, LOVE.

Valentines

I take no credit for the valentines the kids took to school this year. I mean, I'm sure you've seen this idea floating around for at least a year, if not two, but when I found out about a promo where you could get 25 free photo cards from seehere.com (just pay the shipping of about $4.99), I knew we had to do it. So, I had Damon and Allie pose for their pictures...

...and then we quickly made some cards and got them in the mail. Using a razor blade, we made slits above and below the fists, added some suckers, and VOILA! An unoriginal, yet still very cute, valentine.

Damon said a boy in his class who usually has a bad attitude about everything called it "a keeper." Mission accomplished.

NOTE: In the future, I would use Dum Dums. The blow pops were heavy and slipped out.

Hospital 2011

February 14, 2010 was the day I was due with Carter, so I called him my "love baby" during my pregnancy. My doctor joked with me that no boy would want to be born on Valentine's Day, and Carter proved that by being born on January 29th. I had to read my blog from last year to remember what we did (I did have a 2 week old, remember), and found that Jeff and I went out to dinner. And I was worried about my baby getting RSV. I'm sure it wasn't the most romantic V-Day ever.

Well, this year wasn't either. Starting a little bit on Saturday, but more so on Sunday, Carter started sounding croupy. This is probably the third time this winter he has had croup and for the most part, he usually sounds worse than he is. I wasn't too concerned.

But by Monday, he was really sounding bad (worse than he had either of the two times before), and I made an appointment with the doctor. Mostly, I wanted to check his O2 sats to be sure he was getting enough oxygen, and hope that we would be sent home reassured that he was okay. I bailed on Allie's class Valentine's party (thank goodness that there are so many parents who like to help out in kindergarten classes), and passed the craft I had prepared for all the kids to another mom and tried to calm my anxiety long enough to get to the doctor.

At the doctor's office, his O2 sats were fine. He was consiste

ntly in the 90's, even though he sounded so terrible. He was starting to have some retractions on the side of his ribs when he breathed, but he was happy and didn't seem to be in distress. The doctor decided to give him a breathing treatment of Racemic (vaporized epinephrine) to reduce the swelling of the airway. He said most of the time, one treatment is enough to get the symptoms to go away almost immediately, but some kids would get worse a couple hours later.

Carter didn't get better hardly at all. He still sounded bad after the treatment, and it was then decided that he needed to be hospitalized. The main problem with croup is that when children labor to breathe for a long time, they eventually wear out and can stop breathing all together. You think they are sounding better, because they aren't breathing as loudly, but in reality, they are breathing very shallowly, and then not at all. Of course we didn't want that to happen. So, I called my aunt and dropped the other kids off at her house before heading off to the hospital.

All of these pics are from my phone, so they aren't the best quality, but they are all that I have. Carter got into a gown and they hooked him up to the O2 monitor, as well as the monitors for heart rate and respirations. They all looked fine, but he still sounded pretty bad.

I managed to get him to sit still long enough to get this picture of him in his gown, with his froggy and binky. Really, he was not too upset, and his biggest complaint probably would have been boredom.

This is a video clip from my phone as well. If I had kept my big yapper shut, you would be able to hear his breathing a little better, but you can get the idea that he wasn't doing great. He wasn't sad or lethargic or anything, just working hard to breathe. I need to mention that his lungs were clear. This wasn't RSV or some other mucusy virus. This was just croup-an inflammed airway that makes it hard to breathe.

Monday night was a long night for me. Carter got another treatment of vaporized epinephrine and a dose of oral steroids and was bouncing off the walls for a few hours. He settled down around 11:00 and fell asleep, but I didn't sleep. Every time he would knock one of his leads off, I would have to get up, silence the alarm, and try to fix it. This happened a lot. I couldn't really lay on the bed with him because of all the wires in our way, even though I did try. He woke up a few times, but quickly went back to sleep. I think I saw the clock at least once an hour throughout the night. He was getting his treatments every 4 hours and I had to give them to him, because he hated having them done.

By morning, I was pretty tired. Carter sounded a little bit better, but still not great. It became clear that he wasn't going to be going home any time soon, so I made arrangements for the kids and settled in for a day in that tiny room. Because he had done just fine during the night, the nurse let me take off all the monitors, which was amazing. Carter could walk around exploring the room, I gave him a bath, we brought in some toys and set them on a blanket for something to do--it was great. Except for the fact that he really didn't sound that much better.

At one point, he was getting a treatment and he got mad. Ticked off. He cried long and hard and held his breath until he started turning blue. He had never done that before, and it sort of worried the Respiratory Therapist who was in the room. I thought he was just tired of having people in gowns and masks bugging him all the time, but they took it seriously. He had a chest x-ray done to see if there was anything else going on and they put him in a cool mist tent for the rest of the evening and night.

I wish we had a picture of the tent. It was a bit sheet of plastic that stretched down to a point on the bed and was filled with cool mist. Supposedly it is the old treatment for croup and the respiratory therapist thought it might help. He also had an x-ray done on his neck to see if there was any other blockages. The doctor had told me that Carter was more likely to get croup because of his experience on the ventilator last year. The tissue in his airway could already be damaged, and that could be why he was having some problems. The x-rays all looked fine. But in the cool mist tent he went.

Jeff came over after work and traded with me. After 24 hours in the same room, I was going a bit crazy. Nothing like last year, but I definitely needed a break. Especially after we learned that he was going to have to spend at least one more night there.

I came home, picked up the kids, and tried to have a normal evening (which mostly meant taking care of things that had been neglected). My neighbor brought us dinner (the kids had had Mac n Cheese the night before) and I spent some time loading dirty dishes and folding the laundry I had started on Monday. Jeff called and told me he was going to sleep at the hospital and that I should get some rest. I was exhausted. I went to bed at 9:30 and fell asleep almost instantly.

The next morning, I went back to the hospital and traded with Jeff so he could come home and get ready for work. Carter had done great during the night, and had slept really well in his tent. Boy likes camping already. The doctor came in and saw him and said he thought he would be able to go home soon. What a relief!

We got ready to go, and I took a couple more pictures.

All ready to go! Just waiting for our paperwork. Good thing, too, because I look more than a little tired.

Here's Carter sitting in his bed. It holds up to 350 lbs, so once I figured out how to hoist myself up there, he and I spent a lot of time there together. Much more comfy than the pull out couch.

His nurse on Wednesday didn't think he sounded good enough to go home, but they let us check out. Again, though, my anxiety was triggered, because truth be told, he didn't sound that great. Not as bad as the first day we were in there, but not great. I had a little panic about him taking a turn, and having to take him back, but he still seemed to be in good spirits. And he had had a blessing that said he would be healed. And he was definitely better than he had been Monday, so Jeff talked me down and I relaxed a little (as if it were just that easy...I did relax a little, but it took all day).

I had a doctor's appointment myself that afternoon, and after finding out that I had lost 2 lbs in the last two weeks and barely being able to produce any urine sample at all (it's hard to get that cup in the right place!), I was afraid the nurse would think I wasn't taking care of myself. But I managed to convince them that I was just a little stressed and I would be fine. And I told myself that Carter would be fine.

And he has been. He definitely hasn't gotten better as quickly as I had hoped he would (he still didn't sound all that great yesterday, even after we got his oral steroid prescription filled), but he was doing okay. He wanted to be held all the time, was being a picky eater (what's that about??), and still was breathing kind of hard. But today he is doing MUCH better. About 75% better I would say. Phew! Poor kid has really been through it!

And while it wasn't nearly as emotionally draining as it was last year (or nearly as long or serious), having a kid in the hospital is never fun. It's draining. But there are two things I will really miss from our time there:

1. The first night we were there, Jeff and I did FaceTime with the kids on our iPhones. It really was so fun for the kids to see Carter and for Carter to see all of them. I think I should write to Apple and have them put a hospital scene in their next commercial. And Carter can star in it.

2. On Tuesday, when I spent all day in there with him, we took 3 naps together in that big bed. I never get to do that at home. And it was so fun to snuggle with him and sleep together. Probably one of my top 5 Carter memories of all time.

Last year when Carter was in the hospital, I said a prayer and told Heavenly Father that if he would help him get better, that I would try to be the very best mom I could possibly be for Carter. And I have. But this latest experience was a good reminder of just how special this handsome love is to me. And how much I want him to have a good, happy life. Hopefully at home, rather than in the hospital.

Carter's One Year Pics

We got Carter's pictures back on Monday. Sadly, this was the first time he has ever had his pictures taken professionally. I didn't want to be the mom who neglected her fourth child, but apparently I am. So, let's discuss...


Fortunately, the bruise on his head is only slightly noticeable in all of the pics. He toppled down next to my bath tub the morning of pictures and I was worried that the bruise would look really bad. It didn't. I love this one because of his eyes. It's hard to really see what color his eyes are, but now it has been determined (and documented) that they are light bluish gray.


This one is just a sweet baby look, with the cheeks and little eyelashes.


We tried to do some diaper shots of him by this wash tub, but there was just too much going on. He wanted to look at the duck, grab the sponge, and wouldn't just stand next to it looking cute. The best we could get was the Sumo Squat, as he held up the towel to show a little leg.

Standing alone. A trick he had mastered for some time.

Probably my favorite shot. Jeff and I are holding his hands and this is the best smile we got.

We got the dazed look here.

I was definitely NOT planning on being in any of the pics, but the photographer talked me into it. This is, after all, my last baby and Carter looks so sweet. I just wish it was a better shot of me. Bleh. Maybe we will do some more belly shots with all the kids before the baby comes.

When Carter was in the wash tub, he was mostly giving us the dazed look and wouldn't really smile. Then Jeff walked in the room and he gave us this gem. A great shot of his little chompers and a "happy to see you smile" for Jeff. Love it.

This one is the no neck shot. Carter never really has had much of a neck, but especially in this picture. He also reminds me of Kermit the Frog here for some reason. I still love it.

Overall, I'm really happy with the way they turned out. You just can't beat the price at JC Penney. The coupons that come all the time are for a free sitting fee, free 8X10 and $3.99 a sheet for regular sheets. Of course they try to tempt you with the cute embellishments, but I didn't cave. So, I got 10 sheets for $35 total. I love being cheap.

Happy Birthday Chubby Bubby

On Saturday, Carter turned one. What a year it's been. And as anxious as I am for him to start acting like a big boy (so I can take care of another baby), it's a little sad, too. He's taking me a little bit too seriously and really growing up.

We celebrated on Saturday at Chuck E Cheese with my nephew, Tyson, who shares his birthday. Apparently there were a lot of birthdays that day. Or a lot of bored kids who talked their parents into an outing at Chuck E Cheese, because it was more crowded than I have ever seen it, and I have seen it a few times. Still, it was fun and a good birthday activity for the older kids who actually understand what birthdays are supposed to be like.

Monday night, we celebrated with my aunt's family. Carter also shares a birthday with my Uncle Tyler, while my cousin, Monique, and brother, Eric celebrate on Feb. 2. Lots of birthdays in a short time. Unfortunately, Tyler was out of town, but the rest of the family came to celebrate with us and so I made a little cake for Eric/Monique, too. Allie got the tiny cupcake pan for Christmas and has been begging to make tiny cupcakes for quite some time, so this was the perfect occasion.

The cupcakes are about the diameter of a quarter, so great for little hands.

Carter was a little unsure of the whole event. It was past his bedtime and there were a lot of people, so that would explain his shyness. He wasn't shy, however, about eating. Surprised?


We let him demolish two pieces of cake, which he thought was pretty great.

Here are some things I want to remember about Carter at this age:



1. The best thing about him not loving formula and bottles is that it was NOT hard to wean him. When I ran out of formula (a couple days before his birthday), I just started him on whole milk. At first I would put the milk in bottles, because I wasn't sure he had figured out sippy cups yet, but we don't even do that anymore. He quickly figured out how to drink from a cup by tipping his head (why he never figured it out with bottles is beyond me) and seems to like whole milk just as much as formula, if not more. I'm not surprised. Who doesn't like whole milk? We were driving in the car one day and Carter had a cup of milk and Kyla looked over with envy and said, "I love creamy milk."

2. As you saw in the last post, he has started walking. He literally went from taking 2-3 halting steps to walking across the room in one day. It was always a matter of confidence with him. Once he realized he could do it, he was off.

He still crawls more than walks, but he's walking more and more. It's still so thrilling to catch a glimpse of him letting go and just toddling around. (He has also been making this face a lot. I'm not sure what it means, but it's cute!)

He can also clap while walking and bend down to pick something up and stand back up. Impressive for someone who has only been walking for a week or so.

3. He goes to bed at 7:00 and wakes up between 7:00 and 8:00. He finally, consistently sleeps through the night. We have really struggled with this, as he is such a light sleeper and was waking up a couple times a week at various times of the night. I almost always made him cry it out (unless it went on and on and on, then I would go retrieve his frog and binky, which he had thrown on the floor, and give them back to him. This would make him fuming mad, but he'd usually calm down and go to sleep fairly quickly) and I'm crossing my fingers that it's worked.

He is trying to transition from two naps to one right now. It's frustrating trying to figure out what works best. Some days he still wants to take a long nap in the morning, some times he wants to take none. The last two days I have kept him up until after lunch and put him down for one nap. One day he slept almost 3 hours and one day he slept less than 2. Confusing. Then today he was ready for a nap at 9:30 so I put him down. I was going to wake up at 10:30, but he woke up on his own, then took a two hour nap after lunch. Weird. But we will try to get some routine down before this baby comes. I'd like to know what to expect!

4. He loves balls. This is a new found love, but he loves dropping them, watching them roll, and chasing them around the room.


He always picks the two balls out of the tub toys to play with, too. This pic is a little blurry, but it's an action shot! And he's so happy to have all kinds of balls to play with.

5. He learned the sign for "eat" this week and uses it constantly. He always thinks he wants to eat. I try to reinforce it as much as I can (we're still working on Please, more, drink, milk and thank you), but there comes a point when it just has to stop. He can't be eating ALL THE TIME! He's really not too picky, but he'll let you know if he's tired of something by shaking his head no or throwing it on the floor. He REALLY needs to learn the sign for drink, because several times I have learned after the fact that the reason he is crying is because he's thirsty.

6. Speaking of crying, he still cries a lot. He will be playing just fine and then all of a sudden, stop and cry. It's getting a little better now that he can pretty much get where ever he wants to go, but he still spends a fair amount of time sitting at my feet, crying and waiting for me to hold him. I know, without doubt, I am the person he loves most. It's very flattering.

Even without makeup and carrying all this extra weight around, he still loves me unconditionally. And that is therapeutic for anyone. But seriously, he is a tank and I get so tired holding him. So sometimes he just has to cry. Or put up with the other kids hauling him around, trying to make him happy.

7. He has finally learned to come down stairs. For the longest time, he would crawl all the way upstairs and play for a while, then start crying when he wanted me to come get him. He was just scared of the stairs. And I can't blame him. He has had his share of falls. His other favorite place to be is next to the shower in my bathroom. He has to crawl up the step, past the tub and up another step to get to his favorite perch, but always seemed to get stuck there (besides the several times he actually fell INTO the tub). Now he can back down by himself. That is a relief.

8. I read in my parenting book that by this age he should be mimicking what others do, and starting to use things the way they should be used. I had never seen him do this before, but just this week he has done it twice. First, he found a Magna Doodle and tried to color on it. That was fun. Then yesterday, he found a brush on the floor and brushed his hair with it. Cute.

9. He doesn't say any recognizable words. He can sort of repeat "Allie," which sounds like "Ahh-dee," but he makes that sound most of the time (it also sounds like Owie), so I don't think he's really saying it for/about her. He can say Dada and DayDay, but mostly refuses to say mama unless he's crying. So, no, he's not a very verbal kid.

10. He has 6 teeth--three on top and three on bottom. He got his top two first, then a central and lateral on bottom before the other central popped through. Now he has a lateral on top. We're waiting for the other two to complete the set. He drools a lot, but doesn't seem to be especially bothered by teething.

11. He still is constantly harassed by his sisters, especially Kyla. Most mornings, Damon or Kyla gets him out of bed and brings him to me (usually poopie). Kyla likes to carry him around still, which he does not like. He is getting a little more playful with his siblings, though, which is fun to watch. Usually he has no idea why anyone is laughing, but always likes to be in on the joke. His favorite people are, in order: Me, Jeff, my brother Eric, his siblings. And not really anyone else right now. He tolerates others (if they have food), but doesn't seem happy to see anyone else. It makes Eric's day that Carter loves him. I think it's cute, too.

12. He's still in 12-18 month clothes, although they are getting a little small. 18-24 is a tad big, so we are just waiting for spring before we bust out any new clothes. I think he'll be in 18-24 all year. We'll see.

I still love him more than I ever thought possible. He has had a rough first year of life, but he's been an amazing addition to our family. It's still SO FUN for me to have a little boy again. I can't wait to see what kind of person he turns into. Happy birthday Carter! You're one loved little boy!

Name Game

This morning as I was showering, I was thinking about what we're going to name this baby that will shortly join our family. And as the water was so warm and the water pressure so perfect, I didn't want to get out of the shower. So I started thinking about how we came up with names for our other children. And then I decided it might be something the kids would like to read about one day and I decided to blog about naming children. And here we are.

Some interesting facts:
1. We have never used the same list when trying to choose a name for a baby. None of the "runner up names" for one child have been used for another one. We always started completely over and eventually came up with different possibilities for each kid.

2. Kyla is the only one who was named before she was born. Not intentionally, but that was the name we both liked best and finally we decided to stop trying to add any more names to the list.

3. All of the kids' middle names are family names and we always knew we'd give our girls middle names too.

DAMON
I was induced with Damon 3 weeks early and we had only briefly talked about names to that point. Our short list included Damon, Tanner, Scott and Cameron. I had always loved the name Damon after seeing the movie "Only You," where the Ouija board told Marissa Tomei that her soul mate's name was Damon Bradley. The other names came from books. I wasn't crazy about the name Scott, but I loved the idea of calling him Scottie when he was little. We knew for sure his middle name was going to be Jeffrey, so it had to sound good with that. Damon was always my favorite name (not too trendy and not hard to spell), but I was hesitant to stick it to him until I saw him and tried it out. And once he was born I couldn't commit to any of the other names. And so Damon Jeffrey he became.

Interestingly enough, he gets called Damien a fair amount, especially in Florida. Maybe it's a southern thing? I have met a couple other little boys named Damon, but only a handful, and I have never second guessed giving him the name.



CHANCE
Of course, this tiny love never had a name picked out before we knew that we weren't going to be able to keep him here on earth. After my water broke, it was five days before I delivered him, and during those five days I tried to really get to know him and what kind of little spirit lived inside me. I checked out a name book from the library and started going through it, knowing that we wanted to give him a name that had some meaning. We decided against any middle name, more because we thought no one in the family would be thrilled that we used their name as a middle name for our child we knew wasn't going to survive.

When I read the name Chance in the name book, I knew we had found it. Everything about it just seemed to fit. He had his "chance" on earth, and we will one day have the "chance" to be together again. Jeff agreed and that is what we named him.


ALLIE
My favorite girl name had always been Lydia, but Jeff nixed that right away. He said that we were absolutely NOT going to name our daughter after a fictional character (Lydia McBride from Work and the Glory, and yes, the reason I loved that name so much. That also took away the possibility of Nathan for the same reason). My second choice was Rachel. I loved it and secretly thought of her as baby Rachel for many months. Jeff didn't love it but didn't hate it, so it stayed on the list. The other name we tossed around was Bexley. At the time, we lived just outside Bexley, OH, and I thought it was such a cute name, especially when I could call her Bex.

We knew her middle name was going to be Karen, after my mom (also my middle name). Rachel on Friends is Rachel Karen Green, and that may or may not have been an influencing factor.

Just before she was born, we each made a list of names we liked. Besides Allie (never Allison), we both like Jessica. Some of my other favorites were Sarah and Leah, while Jeff liked Hayley. Apparently, I was on a bit of a bible kick. But Allie was the top of both our lists.

Once she was born (the only time I spontaneously went into labor and the only time I had a natural birth), Jeff told me we could name her Rachel if I wanted. Apparently he felt sympathetic for me. And rightly so. But as I held her, I knew I had to be really sure she was Rachel, because I knew Jeff didn't love it, and it just didn't seem like that was who she was. And so we decided to go with Allie. I liked Alli (like in Karate Kid, "Alli with an I"), but Jeff thought since it wasn't short for anything, it should seem like less of a nickname. He also didn't care for Ally because it could be pronounced another way, as in "the US is an ally to England," which left us with the spelling we chose. And that's how Allie Karen came to be.

I didn't realize Allie was a fairly popular name until we brought her home and I started hearing more and more people tell me they knew an Allie. There are definitely more "Allie's" than "Bexley's," but that's who she is. So she'll have to live with it.



KYLA
We were living in Jacksonville at the time I was pregnant with Kyla, and we had already decided if we had a boy his name would be Jackson. When I found out we were having another girl, somehow the other names I had loved (Rachel, Leah, Sarah and Jessica) never made the list again. I'm not exactly sure why. I still loved the names, but I kind of felt like if a name wasn't right for one child, it wouldn't be right for any of them. Probably a dumb way to look at it, but it's true. (Side note: I'm so glad we didn't have a boy named Jackson. I still love the name, but apparently so does everyone else in Utah.

I used a name book this time, and spent hours going through all the lists of names. The names I loved this time around were Riley, Bailey, Kya, Kylie and Kyla. Jeff really didn't have anything to add, but concluded that Kyla was his favorite. Neither of us knew anyone named Kyla, but it was easy to spell and wasn't too crazy. We decided on it about a week or two before she was born. Unlike the first two, we didn't know what her middle name was going to be. I liked Kyla May, because it sounded southern, and she was born in May after all. But Jeff thought that was dumb.

So, while we were in the hospital (comfortable, with an epidural this time after getting induced), we started talking about middle names. We talked about Jane, which was Jeff's grandma's middle name, and we had decided it sounded good and we liked it. Then Jeff's mom called and offered a suggestion. How about Kyla Collette? (Collette is her middle name) I wasn't opposed to it, but knew that another granddaughter already had that as her middle name and I didn't want to take anything away from her. Nancy (my MIL) assured me it was fine, and we decided we couldn't argue with an outright suggestion from grandma. Kyla Collette it was. I like the fact that both of my girls are named after their grandmas.

After we brought Kyla home, there was an incident in the news about a woman who was kicked off an airplane because she wasn't dressed appropriately. Turns out her name was Kyla. Haha. Luckily, her five minutes of fame were over quickly and no one remembers her name anymore. I have only met a couple of Kyla's since. And every where she goes, people tell her what a pretty name she has.

CARTER

Again, when I found out we were having a boy, I consulted a name book and began making my list. My very favorite name was Jace and that's what I really wanted to name him. I loved the idea of naming him Jace Edward Trapnell (initials JET), the Edward after Jeff's dad, Frederick Edward. But Jeff told me quickly that he did not like Jace at all, and that it sounded too girlie. Boo for me. I couldn't talk him into it. Some of the other names I had on my list were Carter, Camden, and Jaron.

When we lived in Ohio there was a family in our ward who had a little boy named Carter and he was a cute chubba bubba and I first started liking the name then. I loved Camden, too, because I just love the nickname Cam. Jeff wasn't crazy about that either because it reminded him of Cami, but he wasn't completely opposed. I had a dream a couple weeks before Carter was born and in the dream we named him Camden (oh it is also the name of the baseball stadium where the Baltimore Orioles play--Camden Yards--and I told Jeff there would be few people who would associate the two. But in the dream we were at Camden Yards taking a picture because our baby was named Camden), and I was leaning toward that for several days. And then my sister told me she knew a girl named Camden. And I just couldn't do it.

So, in the hospital again (again induced and comfortable with an epidural), we agreed on Carter Edward. I assured Jeff the middle name had nothing to do with Twilight and he bought it. Haha, no, I am not a Twi-hard and would never have suggested Edward if it wasn't such a strong family name. Plus, with the other kids being named after dad and their grandmas, it only made sense to name Carter after his grandpa. And Carter Dale Trapnell wasn't quite right.

This past year, I have heard of several kids named Carter. But nowhere near as many as, say, Mason. I think it's just right.

THIS BABY

Things are a little different this time around, not knowing if it's a boy or girl. We have to come up with TWO lists of names. And I don't have a strong feeling either way, so I haven't grown attached to any names, really. I'm always a little hesitant to put my names out there because, inevitably, someone isn't going to like them. But since I'm not committed to any of them, here is my short list of names:

Boy
Austin

Logan

McKay

Easton

It has also been suggested (not so mildly by my MIL) that if we have a boy, we give him the middle name John, which is Jeff's grandpa's name, and all four of Jeff's brothers have a son with the middle name John. I'm not opposed. But I did tell Jeff that I would spell it Jon, after my brother, Jonathan. Haha. We'll see what, if anything, comes from that.

Girl

McKinley

Morgan

Layton

Avery

I have no idea about middle names for girls. That will be a hospital decision if it's a girl.

Jeff has yet to tell me which, of any, of these names he would actually go along with. That is a conversation we will have in the next few weeks, and probably in the hospital.

Phew, that was probably really boring. But it's good to have documented. And if you've made it this far, here is a little treat for you. Carter's birthday present to himself was deciding he was ready to walk. I LOVE babies who are learning to walk. It is probably my very favorite part of watching a baby grow up. So you can imagine how this warms my heart.

Competition

I probably should preface this post with a true statement about myself: I am a competitive person. And now that you know that, I shall proceed.

As a Cub Scout, Damon had his first opportunity to participate in the Pinewood Derby. Which, of course, meant that he chose a design for his car and Jeff did almost all the work on it. Handling a hacksaw, drill, file and spray paint are not exactly something our 8 year old is capable by himself. Plus, I think Jeff was reliving his "glory days," remembering building cars with his dad when he was a Cub Scout.

The finished product was a sweet looking little red and yellow car, weighing in just under the limit of 5 ounces. Both Damon and Jeff were quite proud of it.

We showed up at the church ready to race. Jeff was disappointed by the track, which was not up to his standards, and didn't even have an electronic timer on it. He kept telling me how pinewood derby was the biggest event of his year as a Cub Scout and he was hoping it would be similar for Damon.

(Sidenote: The Activity Days girls had also been invited to participate, which I think is really cool. I would have loved to build a car when I was growing up.)

The racing started and consisted of several different heats. Two "judges" sat at the finish line to declare which car won each race. Although it became clear from the start that it didn't matter which car won. Everyone was going to be a "winner."

At 7:00, the racing was declared over and the awards were given out. Every kid got an award. I have absolutely no problem with that at all. I think everyone who built a car deserved one. Two awards were given out for sportsmanship, which I think was a great idea. But not one single mention was given to who actually had the fastest car. Heaven forbid we mention the obvious--that some cars actually raced down the track faster than others.

And that's what I have a problem with. I'm all about sportsmanship and focusing on the kids having a good time. But I also don't think there is anything wrong with a little competition. Would it have been so bad to have awards for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place (one category for the boys and one category for the girls)? As much as we want to pretend otherwise, real life is FULL of competition. And while we don't need to ONLY celebrate the victories, there are many, many lessons that can be learned from losing. Determination, hard work, dealing with disappointment...those are things we all need to learn at some point. Why not in a setting that is perfectly set up for it--a car race?

I'm not just saying this because Damon's car was super fast and won every heat it was in. If his car had been the slowest, I still would have rather some awards been given based on performance. It would have provided a little bit of incentive to build a better, faster car next year and maybe encourage a little character development as the kids deal with both losing and winning (it's also important to learn to be a gracious winner. Something Damon needs to work on).

(What is Kyla doing this picture? A backbend out Jeff's arms?)

Overall, it was a fun night. I know that a lot of hard work went into making it enjoyable for everyone, and I don't want to diminish my appreciation of them at all. I just wish we (as a society) didn't feel the need to take competition out of everything. Maybe you feel differently. But I'm a competitive person. Which means I always want to win.

Never ending winter

I really don't like winter. When Jeff retires and our kids are grown, I don't plan on sticking around for winter. We will either travel somewhere warm or we will be snowbirds in St George or Arizona. Or both. Preferrably both. But for now, we just bunker down and hope to endure.

We spend a lot of time indoors. Big pregnant mama isn't taking the kids sledding or skiing or out to play in the snow. Especially when the temperature is well below freezing. It just isn't something that sounds fun at all to me. So the kids have to use their imaginations, and I have to use my patience as they find things to do.

One night, they were playing with some boxes that had yet to make it to the recycling, and decided to create some camping equipment for their bears. This one is Allie's.

And this one is Kyla's. It makes me laugh. Apparently, Kyla's bear is homeless, and hoarding trash. And making a hat out of paper.

But this is pretty much the norm. The kids are excellent at making messes. I mean, gold medal worthy. If only their ability to clean could catch up to their ability to make messes. Then we'd have something we could take on the road.

In other, less depressing news, Allie lost her first tooth. It has been loose for weeks (months really) and suddenly became extremely loose while she was eating. I told her I wanted to take a look and popped it out with very little effort. She was as excited as she could possibly be until she noticed a trickle of blood. Then she went into panic mode. Allie doesn't do well with blood. Even a tiny amount that oozes from her own mouth. She refused to let me take a picture for several minutes until the blood had all dried and she had cleared her mind of that fear.

I was remembering back to when Damon first lost a tooth (and before) when he was afraid of the tooth fairy. You can read about it HERE. He was quite afraid of losing a tooth, and even let Allie put his first tooth under her pillow and collect the money. Funny.

Allie has been having emotional issues again lately. I had kind of thought she had outgrown them, but it doesn't appear to be so. She has been waking up with bad dreams again and really having a hard time communicating when she is upset. She just shuts down when she doesn't want to deal with something unpleasant. Jeff and I are really trying hard to get her to talk about things, but she can be completely unreasonable. Last night she woke up crying and I went to see what was wrong. She said she couldn't go back to sleep. So I told her to lay down and close her eyes. It was great advice, really.

This only made her mad and she proceeded to cry more and more until she was screaming, waking everyone up (but Carter, thankfully). I went in again to talk to her, but she could neither tell me why she was crying or what I could do to make it better. So I took Kyla into our room and shut her door, which of course only made her MORE upset. Finally, after letting her scream and cry for a few minutes, I went back and tried to be a little more understanding. I laid next to her and tried to get her to calm down, reminding her of some of the things we have talked about in the past when she is feeling anxious (breathing, imagining things that make us feel calm) and she started to calm down and said she was ready to go back to sleep.

This morning when I was asking her about it, I asked her how she felt (bad). I asked her why she was feeling scared. She told me she felt like there was dirt all around her (I don't know if this was true or if she was just trying to think of something to say, but I acted like I believed her). We talked AGAIN about ways to calm down and I had her go through an exercise where she tightens all her muscles, one group at a time, and then lets them relax. She didn't act like she cared that much about it. But I hope, with time and more practice, I can help her deal with some of her negative emotions. If only she'd talk to me about them! That's the most frustrating part.

One more thing about Allie: every story she tells me lately starts like this: "a boy (or girl) in my class..." and then she goes on to tell some outrageous story (like "a boy in my class tried to dip his chicken nugget in ketchup but instead dipped it in soy sauce", or "A girl in my class has a baby brother who fell off the tub into the trash can)". It's getting a little old. I mean, if she were to be believed, she is part of the most fascinating class in the history of public school.

Maybe I'll use it against her. Have her describe how someone in her class feels when they are scared. We'll see if that gives me any insight into her...

The Rules

A new set of rules, according to Allie and Kyla, as written by Allie.

1. Be cerfol

(be careful)

2. Owols wach kids

(always watch your kids)

3. Owols Hep Yr Mom

(always help your mom)

4. Owols Be Saf

(always be safe)

5. Let yor grls her gro long

(let your girls' hair grow long)

6.Nevr lev yor kids in the snow

(never leave your kids in the snow)

7. Nevr smel stinke stuf

(never smell stinky stuff)

I will try to abide by these rules. :)

January thoughts

First, a couple of pics from January.

This is the way Kyla eats toast. She eats the hot buttery spots first. Most of the time, she eats the rest too, but occasionally she just wants a couple butter bites. It makes me smile. And then I feed the rest to Carter, who is only too happy eating everyone's leftovers.

This has been a very cold month. Many days the temperature never got above freezing. One day I took Carter to get his second flu shot and I was feeling especially chilly. When I checked the temperature on my phone it was 10 degrees. At noon. BURRRR! And the underside of our deck has become a death trap. Look at all those icicle daggers! Beware!

As it has been much too cold for this sun loving girl, we have spent a lot of time indoors. I haven't filled up my gas tank since January 1. It has got to be some kind of record! How long can I go? In this pic we were making gingerbread cookies. I'm not sure what Kyla was doing.

Also, it's definitely not a very flattering picture of me, but I'm going with it. I don't have very many pregnancy pics this time around. And it will make a nice transition into a few thoughts about pregnancy.

I realize I don't have it all that bad. My morning sickness, while awful, doesn't begin to compare with some of the horror stories I have heard. I don't gain an exorbitant amount of weight (40 pounds or so). I have never had gestational diabetes or placenta previa or preterm labor. I don't have to deal with a lot of serious trials while I am pregnant.

I'm also not going to be featured on I Didn't Know I was Pregnant anytime soon, either. Because although I don't have it terrible, I certainly know I'm pregnant. My biggest complaints are major heartburn (which is easily remedied with daily Prilosec), achy legs (for which I wear compression stockings), and sore muscles under my belly when I do any lifting or major housework. These aren't new problems, but are things that I can count on pretty much every time. However, they are getting more troublesome. Especially the sore muscles. I have to turn the vacuuming over to Jeff, as that is getting to be painful now. He also has to carry everything for me, as I am already sore from carrying Carter around so much. I do wear a very attractive belly band, which helps when I am out running errand or on my feet a lot, but annoys me when I'm sitting down because it's so constrictive.

But, really, those aren't a lot of things to complain about. No sciatica, no bed rest due to pre-eclampsia (besides that one week with Damon), and not a lot of swelling of the hands and feet. My complaints are minimal.

I had also never had a UTI. Until recently.

On Sunday, I woke up feeling a little off. The pressure on my bladder seemed a bit more extreme than normal and I was uncomfortable. I got the kids ready for church and we went to sacrament meeting at 11:00. I was only planning on staying for sacrament meeting because Kyla and Carter weren't feeling great, but I thought we should at least make it to one meeting. By the beginning of the meeting, I had already felt the need to pee 5 or 6 times, and I was increasingly crampy. We made it through the sacrament, when Jeff told me to take the kids home. Kyla had coughed about 100,000 times and when she wasn't coughing, she was stifling the desire to cough. So, we came home.

My back was really starting to hurt on the left side, and I thought maybe if I laid down for a bit it would help. Instead, it just got worse. It was a long few hours waiting for Jeff to get home. I was pretty sure I had a bladder infection, after reading my pregnancy book and noting how many of the symptoms I was experiencing, so when Jeff finally pulled up at 2:00, I called the OB on call to find out what to do. I certainly needed to do something. He told me I needed to go to Instacare, because Monday was a holiday and I shouldn't wait until Tuesday to be seen.

So, that's how I ended up at Instacare, watching Johnny Depp as Willa Wonka, unable to sit still for more than a few minutes at a time. I was able to get some prescriptions and took some Extra Strength Tylenol when I got home (I should have taken that HOURS earlier, as it really helped with the ache in my back), and started feeling a little better.

Sunday night was not great (my back still really hurt, and sleeping with a heating pad only helped a little), and was made worse when another d@&* smoke detector started beeping and calling out "low battery" all night long. Finally, at 3:30, Jeff and I both got up to change the blasted battery. But by morning, I was feeling a lot better. Probably back to 80% of "pregnancy normal." Still crampy, still needing to pee a lot, but the back aches had subsided dramatically and the burning sensation was gone (thanks to a pill that turns my pee bright orangish yellow!). Thank goodness. I had heard that UTI's were painful, and I can now attest to just how true that statement is.

The sad news is that I have to give up my baths. Apparently, you aren't supposed to take baths longer than 30 minutes, as they can be the cause of nasty UTI's. And I have taken at least 2 or 3 baths a week for a while now. Oh how I love it. And I'm just not sure 29 minutes in the tub is going to cut it. We'll see.

But add UTI to the list of pregnancy experiences I wouldn't have had without this pregnancy. I'm not sure how many other "firsts" I'd like to add to the list.

Song

Recently, I was looking for the video I took of Damon singing the song he sang at his baptism, "When I am Baptized." And I can't find it. It may have somehow gotten deleted. And I keep thinking I need to have him sing it again.

Today, though, Jeff left his phone home and I found a pirated copy of the actual baptism day and his song. Of course, the quality isn't good (it's from a phone), but it's priceless to hear his little voice. So I thought I'd share.

HERE

11 months

I thought I better post this picture before this handsome love turns one, which happens in two weeks. During the last month, he has been teething like crazy. He now has three teeth on the bottom to go with the two on top, and his latest trick is grinding them together. Seriously? A teeth grinder with 5 teeth?

He has also become a little more adventurous around the house. Meaning: he likes to create messes. If there is a drawer or cupboard he can reach, he will open it and pull things out. If there are things on the coffee table, he will throw them on the floor. If the fridge is left open, he will empty out the doors he can reach in mere minutes.

Carter also cautiously explores every room (and toilet) in the house. If a door is open, he will crawl as fast as he can to the very edge to look out. But he will go no further. He isn't daring like Kyla was. Instead, he is content to get to the edge and stop. His favorite activity is still climbing the stairs and looking out over the family room. I did catch him on video tumbling down four or five stairs, and his reaction is always the same: I can't believe I fell! I knew it was going to happen! It's like he's mad at someone else for his own clumsiness.

He still isn't close to walking. He can stand. And stand and stand and stand, but when it comes to taking steps, he just isn't ready. Probably because he knows he will fall. He has started leaning and letting his feet follow, but I don't think he'll be walking by his first birthday. Hopefully soon, though. We'll keep working on it.


We are working on some signs (eat, please and more) and he may actually be getting it. He has signed eat a couple of times, but not with any consistency. He gets what he wants by crying until someone (usually Kyla) give in and give him whatever it is he wants to eat.

I still think of him as a baby, even though he is about to turn one. He just doesn't seem like he's ready to enter the toddler stage yet. But please let it be soon. We're down to less than 10 weeks before Baby Jimmer is born (haha, that was a Facebook joke from earlier in this week. NOT what we're going to name him/her).

More on that later...

Resolutions

Yep, it's that time again. I actually enjoy making resolutions, because I feel such a sense of accomplishment when I achieve them, which isn't all the time. I enjoy the experience of evaluating myself and recognizing areas I need to improve and then making the changes. I realize this isn't something everyone enjoys, but for me, it is a good thing.

My personal goals for this year are broken into five areas:

PHYSICAL

1. My goal is to have a natural birth. Going into labor on my own, no epidural, and a speedy delivery. While that is the goal, I'm not 100% committed to it. My experience with Allie wasn't exactly my favorite, I am hopeful that with a little more preparation, I can do it again without so many negative feelings afterward. Of course, this is all based on the assumption that I will go into labor on my own and not need to be induced, which changes everything. I'm sure I will write more about this later.

2. Post baby, I want to participate in a sprint triathlon. I know I'm a bit late to jump on the bandwagon of triathlons, but I don't have a bike, I don't really know much about swimming, and I hate running. Are those obstacles I can't overcome? We will see.

3. Get back to pre-baby weight. Ideally, I would like to be back to my pre-Carter weight before Jeff and I celebrate our 11th anniversary in the fall. We'll see how that goes, too.

MENTAL

1. Read 50 books and write reviews on Goodreads

2. Finish my blog book and get scrapbooks caught up

3. Write more. Not only blog posts, but also some of the stories I have running around in my head that no one has ever read.

SPIRITUAL

1. Keep up with the New Testament Sunday School lessons, and RS lessons

2. Do temple work for 50 people (endowments, initiatory, sealings) and write down all their names

3. Index 1,000 names for FamilySearch.

EMOTIONAL

1. Learn more techniques for dealing with anxiety and help my kids learn them too

2. Work hard not to be discouraged. I know this is Satan's way of getting to me, and I have definitely had moments/hours/days where I have been discouraged and have found it hard to get over it. I don't want to give him the satisfaction this year.

FAMILY

My goal is no more yelling. I will ask nicely, and if I'm ignored, I won't lose my temper.

Jeff's goals are to be more patient and to help out more

Damon's is to deal with frustration in ways other than crying

Allie's is to concentrate and stay focused

and Kyla's is to leave Carter alone.

Lofty goals, probably. But a good place to start.

After Christmas

We loaded up the kids and headed to St. George Christmas Day. Well, first we had to take down the tree and vacuum up the 100,000 dry needles that were all over the floor. I didn't want to do it (it was Christmas after all, I just wanted to get down to see my family), but it was good to get it done before we left.

We spent the week after Christmas having all kinds of fun. The kids stayed up WAY too late (one night at 1 am we went down to check on them and Damon and Allie were STILL awake!), but I tried hard not to worry about it and just enjoy our vacation. Even if it meant we were all a little sleep deprived.

My cousin, Rebecca, invited us to ride horses with them on Tuesday and seeing how we didn't have to do any work, but just show up and enjoy all their planning, how could we say no?

Carter didn't seem to realize he was a part of anything new and exciting.

In fact, he put on his best cowboy face while posing for this picture. Can't you just imagine drawing a hat and mustache on him, and laughing at what a perfect little cowboy he makes?

How about now?

Allie wanted to roast just for the sake of roasting. I'm pretty sure she didn't end up eating this hot dog. I, however, smelled like campfire for the rest of the day, as I roasted hot dogs and marshmallows for the other kids who were busy riding the horses and playing in the dirt.

This was by far the best weather day we had while in St. George. Notice no one even needed a jacket! The rest of the week was rainy and cold and we were stuck inside.

Carter hated wearing this Santa hat, but I managed to get a picture of him in it before he tore it off. What a Grinch.


Once the rain came, we had to get creative. We played a lot of games together...

...and Grandma Karen helped all the kids make sugar cookies, which thrilled everyone.
Especially since that left us free to play Settlers. I wish I had counted how many hours we spent playing, but it was a lot. I like to keep track of the numbers we roll during the games, and Damon was helping do just that during this game. And of course, he was playing with his hair.

We had some friends (Hookers) come over for a visit on Thursday, and Jeff and Wayne wanted no part of the chit chat. Instead, they took the kids to Pirate Island for all kinds of fun. Eric and Kimmy tagged along, because they are still kids at heart. Tara, can you get the pictures from mom's camera and post them so I can steal one? Thanks!

We also snuck in a few minutes of personal time with my grandparents. Jeff has been working on a coffee table book of photos of my grandpa's ranch for a couple of years, and he was finally ready to give it to him. It turned out awesome and I think they really loved it. I love this picture of us, and I will love telling Carter all about them someday when he is older.

We had such a fabulous time. I wasn't ready to come home, especially since it was only in the teens when we got here, but it's always good to get home and get everyone back into the routine of life. And I'm happy to report we are all back to reasonable bed times.