Cute Kaden

Yesterday Kaden came up to me and said, "Mom, I think my destiny is to do whatever I want."

What do you say to that?  I love my little guy.

Savannah's Baby Blessing

My little Savannah was blessed October 2011.  She was so sweet and absolutely silent during the whole blessing.  I couldn't stop crying pretty much the entire sacrament meeting.  I couldn't help it, it was just wonderful having my whole family there, watching Kimball bless our baby, and I could feel the spirit so strongly.  Add all that up together and you get waterworks.

It really was great.

Afterwards everyone gathered at my parents house for a late breakfast.

Thanks to everyone who was able to come.  Love you guys!

Happy Halloween!

Halloween 2011 was a really fun one for our family.  Kaden had his heart set on being a mummy for some reason so I decided we should all dress up as classic spooky Halloween monsters.  Kaden was of course a mummy.  His costume was pretty easy.  I just tore up an old sheet and hot glued strips onto some old clothes.   He loved it!  Especially when I brought out the spooky makeup.

Jocilyn was a princess-witch.  That was the best compromise I could get out of her.  She really wanted to be a princess, but of course that didn't go with my spooky monster idea so Aunt Mo convinced her that being a princess-witch would be even better because she could have a magic wand.  It worked out in the end.  All she really wanted was to wear pretty sparkly makeup.  And she wore a witch hat for our pictures so I was happy too.

Kimball and I were going to be Mr. and Mrs. Frankenstein, but I wasn't sure if Kimball would be back from his course in time to go out so I never put his costume together.  Luckily about an hour before trick-or-treating began Kimball walked through the door and I immediately plastered him with makeup, so he could go as a spooky something or other.  I was lucky enough to find an old formal at a clothing swap so I had my Bride of Frankenstein ready to go minus one Frankenstein of course.

Savannah stayed inside with grandma and grandpa not being spooky at all, but was still very cute.

Next year I'll try to get Kimball's getup pulled together so that we can really be The Frankensteins.  I don't think it turned out bad for a first attempt though.

The kids had a great time.  We borrowed my dad's four wheeler and drove through the neighborhood all night collecting candy.  Overall, a very fun Halloween night!

Happy Birthday Kaden!!

Actually Kaden's Birthday was way back in October, but as you all know I'm playing catch-up.  The point is still the same.  My sweet little boy is now 6 years old and in Kindergarten!  I'm so glad we were back in Draper when school started.  Having lived here off and on through the years Kaden has a few little buddies he's gotten to know pretty well.  I don't know if he was more excited to start school or ride the bus, but he was one happy kid when he got home that day.

Kindergarten has brought its own new challenges to our family.  Just getting to the bus stop in time has given me more stress than I expected.  On top of that I am constantly on the look out for bullies.  He had a little problem with an older boy on the bus, but from what I could tell that boy was mean to everyone, so at least Kaden wasn't being singled out.  A great relief has been Mikey.  He's the older brother of one of Kaden's friends, and rides the bus home with Kaden in the afternoon.  Mikey is a very kind and cool kid, the best part... he's in the sixth grade and is very tall for his age.  No one messes with Mikey or his friends.  :)  I'm thankful his big brother protection extends to Kaden as well.  I don't know why I worry so much about Kaden being bullied.  He's a really nice kid and makes friends easily.  I guess I just don't want him to go through any of that and me not even know.  Either way, knowing Kaden has people to look over him when I can't makes me feel better.

Now on to the Birthday.  Because this was the first year Kaden had some real friends in addition to family he was really excited to have a fun party with everyone.  I was pretty excited too, and will be the first to admit I probably went a little overboard.  But it was so much fun!

We had a Super Hero themed party and thanks to Pinterest I found some really cute ways to make it really fun.  So if you want more details on decorations just go to my birthday file there.

All the kids were told to come as their favorite super hero or make-up a new one.  We had an obstacle course set up outside, water balloon target practice, and silly string the bad guy to keep the kids busy.  I also made a back drop out of an old tablecloth of a city skyline to take the kids pictures in front of.  At the end of the party we gave them the photo in a super hero frame I made as a party favor.  I thought that would be pretty fun, but I still had a couple kids ask me if they were going to get candy to take home too.  Well, at least the parents probably liked the pictures.

It was a really fun party.  Kaden loved it.  And other than all my planned activities being over an hour before the party ended everything went smoothly.

Kaden was also very excited to open his presents from Aunt Mo and Uncle Scotty.  Mo gave him tickets to a Real Soccer game complete with cotton candy.  Thanks Mo!  And Scotty gave Kaden his first piggy bank.  He was so excited.  I'm glad Kaden had such a special day.  He's a very good, sweet kid it was fun to give him all the attention for a day.

The only downside is that now Jocilyn's expecting a big beautiful princess party.  I may have to give it to her.  How can I give one child a big fun party and not the other one?  Next year though they both better be expecting cake and ice cream at home with mom, dad, and Savannah because there's no way I can do this every year!

On to Arizona...Psych!

After living in Arizona last year Kimball and I fell in love with Sierra Vista.  So Kimball made arrangements to work as a lawyer there at the base after he passed the bar.  Our plan was to move down after Savannah was born and Kimball would be a banker with Chase again while we were waiting for the bar results.

Just before we were ready to move to Arizona Kimball was offered a position with the Guard for a few weeks.  We decided this was a better option than the banker job and opted to stay in Utah for a little while longer.  My family was more than happy to have a little extra time with Savannah and the kiddos before we left.

During that time Kimball applied to a couple of other positions with the Guard in case the bar surprised us and he didn't pass.  Well, its a good thing he did because he ended up not passing again.  I wouldn't be surprised if Kimball takes another go sometime in the future, but right now we need a paycheck to replenish our savings.  I'm very grateful to say Kimball was accepted into a training course with the Guard.  Of all the things he tried to line up with the guard he was most excited about this one.  It began in October and just ended a week or two ago.  It was a very demanding course: 6 days a week and averaging about 12 hours a day.  But he loved almost every minute.  He couldn't tell me everything, but from what he could say it sounded pretty cool.

We've been loving being back in Utah again.  We found a great apartment that is my favorite place of anywhere we've lived.  I got to spend both Thanksgiving AND Christmas with my family.  And Kaden was able to go to Draper elementary to start kindergarten with a bunch of friends he has here.  We should have a better idea what's happening next by the end of this week, but I'm finally learning to expect things to not go as planned.  I don't think that's a bad thing though.  Our family has been having a great adventure that we never expected.  Some days I wish we knew where we were meant to end up so that I could get a home that really belongs to me and Kimball, but I'm trying to be patient for that.  I know Heavenly Father is guiding us through all of this.  There have been so many times everything we've been planning has folded in on itself, but I believe its because we've had the wrong plans.  My husband believes in the work he is doing and I am very proud of him for it.  When we first married never in a million years could I have told you this was what our future held, but I am grateful to have it.

Savannah Ruth Jones

I know this was a huge surprise to a lot of people because I never really announced I was pregnant to begin with.  Do you want to know the awful reason why not?  I was waiting to get caught up on my blog.  Next time I'll make big news the priority.

Savannah was born on July 28th 2011.  Here are all the fun details:

About a week before the 28th My doctor said I was 50% effaced and dilated to a 2.  This would normally be very exciting news because Savannah wasn't due until August, but I was actually nervous.  Kimball had to go to Boise to take the bar on the 24th and wouldn't be home until late on the 26th.  I knew there was nothing he could do to change things so I just promised to move as little as possible until he made it home.  Beyond that I just hoped and prayed for things to work out.

Since you already know the end of the story I know there isn't much build-up about what happened so I'll cut to the chase.  By mid-afternoon on the 26th I had decided that even if I did go into labor before Kimball got home he certainly had time to get back before the baby was actually born so the kids and I went for a walk to the park.  I may have also done a few squats and lunges.  Having delivered my other two babies two weeks early I had decided I'd waited enough and was ready.  Kimball got home later that night and to my disappointment I was not in labor.

The next morning I had a doctors appointment and asked to see if things had progressed.  I hadn't felt any new contractions so thought my chances were slim, but was kind of hoping the exam might help things along.  I think the doctor knew what my real intentions were because that was the most uncomfortable exam I had ever had!  Later that night I had just let Kaden out of time-out when my water broke.

I should have realized right away because my water broke with Kaden too, but I was still terrified that I had wet my pants.  Between you and me, it wouldn't have been the first time.  So we finished putting the kids to bed and I did a little experiment to see if it was for real and sure enough it was!

The hospital was a memorable experience.  I had one of the sweetest nurses on the planet, but she wasn't exactly competent.  She got me set up just fine, but when it came to the I.V. things just went wrong.  She couldn't find the vein for a little while and decided to dig around until she did.  At long last she was done, or was she?  After a few minutes she came in and decided to put a little fluid into the I.V. to make sure she got it in the vein.  OK.  She pumped a little in and my arm started swelling up, my guess is she missed the vein after all, but my sweet little nurse was twisting my arm around at all different angles trying to decide the obvious.  Finally she asked me if my arm looked swollen.  YES!  She was still unsure so she got another nurse for a third opinion.  The next nurse gave a quick yes you need to try again and left me at the mercy of my sweet nurse.  So she took the first attempt out and tried to clean up the blood then put in the second attempt.  This time it was a success!!  Unfortunately I passed out from the whole ordeal.  I don't like to think I was a wuss, but to be honest that was the most traumatic part of the whole delivery.

One thing I learned from the experience is those little packages of smelling salts they have taped everywhere work really good.  One sniff and I was wide awake.

One other surprise I had was having to wait for an epidural.  I delivered Kaden and Jocilyn at the same hospital and was able to get the epidural as soon as I wanted it.  Madison Memorial has a different way of doing things.  I had to wait until I had dilated to a certain point.  I can't remember how far though.  Either way I wasn't allowed an epidural until about 4 am.  Beyond that you'll be relieved to hear I have no complaints.  Epidurals tend to have that affect.

Just after sunrise the doctor came in saying we were ready to push.  Thankfully Savannah was delivered after just a few pushes and surprised everyone with a ridiculous amount of beautiful hair.  The nurse joked that she was the first baby to use conditioner during her first bath.

She is the sweetest baby I could have asked for.  And very very happy!  Kaden and Jocilyn love making her smile.

Jocilyn goes back and forth between mothering and doting and becoming a little jealous.  Overall she does much better than I expected.  Even when she's jealous she's never mean to Savannah she just reverts to being a baby herself complete with sippy cups and baby talk.  Kaden doesn't seem to get jealous at all, just a little annoyed when she cries, but he is a very loving and sweet big brother.  I am so grateful for my sweet family.  I can't believe I have three children now and Kimball and I have been married for over eight years!  I suppose that means we really are in a serious and committed relationship with each other.

Hello again! + The Emergency Room

Let's face it.  I am a terrible blogger, but that said this is still better than I've ever done with a journal so I'm going to keep at it!

Because I have over six months of time to catch up on including some major milestones (new baby, kindergarten, etc.)  I've set a schedule for myself and within the next couple of weeks I'll hopefully be all caught up.

I suppose I should just start where I left off.  Kimball did in fact come home safely from Morocco, quite a bit sooner than we expected.  He was only gone 17 days in total.  Just long enough to pick up some souvenirs and realize Morocco is actually not hot just humid.  He loved the experience and is keeping his eyes open for any other small missions like this one.  For the time being I don't mind too much.  I always miss him when he's gone and am sure I always will, but I'm getting used to handling the kids by myself when he's away.  It is nice to play tag team when the kids are being a handful though.  I don't want anyone to misunderstand.  I wish Kimball never had to be away for even one night and I miss him like crazy every time he leaves.  But right now, that seems to be a part of what's necessary, so I'm trying to adjust.


Next order of business...

Our families first emergency room visit.

This next story is painful to tell because it begins with me being a know-it-all and ends with Jocilyn paying the consequences.

Living in Rexburg has many advantages, one of them being lots of family very close.  One night we decided to take advantage of the closeness and got together for dinner with Kimball's dad and Phyllis.  So we're all sitting down at the table when Phyllis tells me not to let Jocilyn stay in the chair she chose because she could fall over.  After looking at the chair (a plastic short patio furniture type) I decided she would be just fine and even if she did fall it would be on carpet and from not very high up.  She needed to learn to sit still in chairs anyway.  I was a soon-to-be mother of three after all so of course I knew what I was talking about.

I'm sure you can guess what happens from here.  Within about 15 minutes Jocilyn had tipped her chair backwards, and did she land on carpet?  Yes, but not before her head bounced off of the corner of the wooden table behind her.

...
...

Sorry, I was just swallowing my pride for a moment there.

She was of course balling and screaming and while we were cuddling her we realized she was bleeding a lot.  When we looked at the cut it didn't look all that big, but it was deep.  So thanks to my guilt and natural tendency to over react we took her to the hospital.

I hated explaining what happened to the nurses, over and over again.  I know I didn't really do anything wrong, but I'm always afraid they'll find a hiccup in my story and decide I'm an unfit mother and try to take my children away.  (Like I said, I'm a natural over-reactor.)

It turned out to be a good thing we took Jocilyn in.  They cleaned her up, rubbed some anasthetic on her cut, and used some staples to pin her back together.  Had we not taken her in, at the very least her scar would have been a lot bigger and possibly become infected.  That would be after a week or so of wondering if she had a concussion,  infection or brain damage.  Even the nurse turned out not to be scary.  She knew Kimball from when we went to school at BYU-I, and didn't declare me unfit.

She was such a trooper.  She didn't cry or anything once we were at the hospital, not even during the staples.  And she LOVED the bandage they gave her, pink and purple hearts!

Don't mind the pictures.  She's just hamming it up for the camera.  She was actually laughing through most of this, but wanted to play the part for the pictures.  My little drama queen, she just soaked in all that attention.  And please don't look to carefully at me, I'm almost nine months pregnant after all.