New Home... Closing 6/15/2011

We have been looking for a house and we have a closing date! We are excited. The kids will all have their own rooms.

My life is boring...

Wow... I am such a lame blogger. But things are boring. We live out here in Spokane. And I haven't discovered any cool fun things to do. I basically work and drive my kids to & from school. And go grocery shopping. Everything is very close together. 3 minutes to the school to drive or 10 minutes to walk. And I drive because it is freakin' COLD!

Ben is loving his job. Each day that passes has shown me that his job has been truly a gift from Heavenly Father. He's taking advantage of the educational opportunities and will be starting school part time either this summer or fall.

The girls are in a great school with great teachers and making nice friends. Natalie loves her dance class & Julia loves her gymnastics class. Levi is growing so fast & is now 15 months old. He hasn't had any PKU issues. Our metabolic Dr in Sacramento said he didn't need to see us anymore & no followup would be needed here in Spokane. His Pediatrician here in Spokane just did a PHE level last week per my request and I'll be surprised if its elevated. Levi's development has been normal and he's a bright, sweet, cuddly little boy. He loves to be read to. He loves music. He understands quite a bit, but he's not the most verbal yet. :)

My work is taking some getting used to. There are some cool things about it. It is a LDRP which means I get to care for the laboring mom & then the mom & baby after delivery. Some days I have post partum moms and babies, some days I have antepartums. It doesn't get boring. Some patients are what I call a "one night stand." This means they whine soooo much and complain soooo much and drive a nurse crazy that even though you had them last night... you have therefore done your time and are not required to ever have them again. Who cares about continuity of care. They are a ONE NIGHT STAND. A fellow nurse had one such patient. Her room was the farthest room from the nurses station and took quite a hike to get down there. She would often use her call light to send for her nurse. And then have her nurse make several trips in with ice, pain meds, formula, extra blanket, pillows, etc etc... Her best line was when she called the nurse to come to her room. When the nurse got there, she stated that when she flushed her toilet, the noise would startle her baby. She asked if the nurse would please flush the toilet while she stood in the farthest corner of the room holding her baby so the noise wouldn't startle her. ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? That was my favorite line. Classic ONE NIGHT STAND of a patient.

Well there's a quick update on my boring life. I'll try to be a better blogger.

New Place

So we recently moved to Washington state. We're loving it. There are some changes for sure and I really don't do CHANGE very well. But I'll get used to it. The girls started a new school a few weeks ago. I started a new job. Ben started a new job. We are living in an apartment until we find a house. Lots of change. Lots to get used to. :)

Fast Forward

My life feels like the fast forward button got pushed. Everything has flown by so quickly since I started back to work in January. I've been picking up lots of extra shifts at work & essentially turned my part time job into a full time job. Ben's been able to keep up with all the girls' activities while taking care of baby Levi when I'm working the noc shift & sleeping during the day. As these days fly by... my Natalie has turned into a beautiful little lady. She's taking a dance class on Mondays that I never get to see her do. I know she enjoys being with her best friend who is also in the class. Tuesdays my sweet, tender-hearted Julia goes to ballet class... which I've never been able to watch her do. Twice a month (on Tuesdays) I teach the Activity Day girls ages 8-11 in our Branch. Ben drives the ballet run and picks up Activity Day girls from school & I wake myself up to plan and do the activity every other Tuesday... but I miss watching the ballet class. On Wednesdays Juls has her gymnastics class. I totally love gymnastics & I miss being able to watch Juls in her gymnastics. She's very good and shows me her new gym skills all the time. But I miss watching her. I missed Levi rolling over from his tummy to his back for the first time.... I cried when Ben told me how he had rolled over. I told Ben that from now on... Levi is not allowed to do anything for the first time without me. If he does something new... don't tell me. Pretend that when I see it.. It's the First TIME he's ever done it. Life isn't always what you planned it to be, but I feel like I am missing out on my own life. It makes me sad. Fast forward... Levi is 4 months old now. He smiles and laughs.. He loves his mommy and his daddy. He is such a good baby. He loves going on walks with his daddy in the stroller. I need a bit more balance in my life. Less working and more time with my children, husband, & family. New goal. :)

Back to Work

Went back to work on Thursday night. Levi is 8 weeks old. He's so cuddly and has adorable chubby cheeks. LOVE THEM... He's starting to smile and will occasionally laugh. So Thursday during the day I tried to sleep in with the baby in bed next to me. He's so sweet. Then I got about an hour or so nap before going to work @ 11pm. I had one delivery, helped with another delivery, then got the AM c-section patient ready to go. They started this new thing at work when someone comes back from a Leave of Absence, they gave me an "orientation" day. Loved it! Jessica did all my charting & I did the manual labor stuff. My password for the computer charting wouldn't work anyway. Hope to get that resolved soon. It was nice to be able to pump twice at work during my two breaks. I came home Friday morning arouond 8:30am and snuggled my baby all day while 'sort of' trying to sleep. I think I missed Levi so much that I felt I had to make up for the 9 hours we spent apart. I held him in my arms and loved him all day.... and the next day too.... Today was hard to dust & vacuum house, do dishes, sweep & mop the floor, do all laundry... while wearing my baby in my front-pack... Oh & went to Target to buy a new mop, and a b-day present for Nat's friend. I am oh so tired... but my room is messy. The baby is in his own bed right now. I finally put him down.... I think I'll leave 'my room' for tomorrow. Ben's in CO right now on a job interview. My brain is so fragmented. It is time for bed. I love my baby boy. :)

Levi is 6 weeks old

Little Levi is 6 weeks old. He's such a sweet, mellow, cuddly baby. He loves to be held and he loves to EAT...

Levi (2 weeks ago) weighed about 10 lbs. I am sure he's even bigger now. His little cheeks are so chubby and cute. He's no longer in "newborn" diapers... He's in the size 1 size. (growing so fast already... ) He's been to a few outings. He went to his first day at church this past Sunday. He was very well behaved and slept through most of it. He's been to his sister Julia's Gymnastics Christmas program, and to Natalie & Julia's piano recital, and to Natalie & Julia's Christmas singing program at the elementary school. He slept through most all those performances as well. He likes to sleep through noisy situations.

Levi is "sort of" fussy/tired & doesn't want to go to sleep.

Baby Levi in his bouncy seat... 6 wks old!

Natalie's beautiful smile!

Mom & Dad came to visit from TX for Thanksgiving.

Jennifer & Mike came to visit from Provo for Thanksgiving.

Natalie & Julia hold baby Levi on Thanksgiving.

Natalie plays 'We Wish You a Merry Christmas'.

Natalie & Julia had two snow days from school!

Julia at her gymnastics Christmas Performance.

Levi was diagnosed with PKU when he was a few days old. It turns out that his PKU is on the mild side of the spectrum & is called benign hyper-phe. He'll have blood tests to make sure his levels of Phe are safe, but it looks like right now he'll not have to be on a special diet. We are so grateful for this miracle. Levi had to do about one week of the special medical formula mixed with measured amounts of breastmilk. I was neurotic and crazy for the whole 2nd week of his life, measuring out breastmilk and formula into bottles for each day's feedings. What a miracle to get the news that he has the benign form of PKU.

Julia Throws Up

This morning Julia came into my room crying because she had just thrown up. She says to me... "Mommy, I was trying to go potty and my poop smelled so bad that I threw up on the floor.".....