goodness...it has been quite some time since my last blog..i didn't realize it..i've been updating our "status" and giving information on my facebook page but it's just snippets of what's going on with us.
where to begin?
well, we'll start with our ever growing frustration with landon's medical condition. after a second bronchoscopy at the children's hospital, they discovered that this wait and see approach they have been taking has been just that..a waiting game with no result. landon has a congenital form of the defect which after two years of poking, proding, doctor after doctor they are just now figuring out. the treatment plan of action....shocking...wait and see...the doctors think that landon will eventually outgrow it as his trachea gets more mature. for the meantime, landon will continue to struggle with his breathing, keep getting sick, and continue to br treated different than all the other kids...especially at daycare.. the parents are always on high alert for the corprut for the latest strain of whatever is going on..they hear landon's barky cough, maybe see him choke or throw up (not acutal vomit, contents of his stomach but fluid all the same) and the jump to their own conculsions..for awhile there, landon kept being accused of carrying the pandemic swine flu..oh brother...that was a fun few weeks. in other regards, landon is doing well. he is starting to talk a lot and sometimes, it's a good thing and other times..we kind of wish he still didn't talk. he hasn't mastered the concept of being subtle about his asking for things..he will ask you for juice 50 times in a row, no exaggeration. he is starting to have an interest in potty trainging which we are excited about. he has had some successes and it's a work in progress. he is sleeping in his own big boy bed now and does well most of the time..every once in awhile he ends up in our bed in the middle of the night.
dylan is a happy tank of a little boy. he is so delightful and such a wonderful addition to our little family. he is starting to be really expressive and he has the best little laugh. he still isn't sleeping through the night which is frustrating but it is because he was so congested at night. i have a theory that he is suffering from allergies....we've been trying to mimimalize his exposure to the dogs and cat and that has been helping, with small doses of benadryl when he really needs it...when i presented my information to the doctor, he said, "you made a compelling case"...i didn't realize i needed to take that approach to my child's healthcare in order to be listened to but in our experiences with the healthcare field, i guess the best thing for a parent to do is become educated and then present the best case for treatment...anyway..dylan is rolling over and trying to crawl, it's more like bodysurfing...he can sit for a little bit unsupported and he plays with toys. we are starting solid foods but he is a big fan of his bottle.
jordan has been doing well. right now, he is designing the map for our backyard as we venture into landscaping it. this will be the first house we've actually wanted to put in the time and effort and funds into doing....landon needs a yard...he is a liked a caged animal in the house all day; if he doesn't get out at least for a walk then he goes crazy. jordan is so smart..he has basically done the job of a landscape designer, with all the software and measurements...saved us a bunch i'm sure..work has been good for him and we're so thankful that in this economy he hasn't had to worry about losing his job. we just had his 28th birthday this month and it was a lot of fun. i planned a surprise party for him and all of his closest friends came and it was nice to see everyone. we got to see cara who lives close to us again but we hadn't seen yet and mark even drove in from california..it was awesome and he was really happy. we're looking forward to jordan's parents and sisters coming to visit..we can't wait!!
as for me, a lot has been happening. when i'm not racing from doctor's office to office with the boys, i'm having some medical issues myself...again! a pain began to develop in my abdomen and it wasn't going away, it just kept getting worse. finally, it got so intense that i couldn't take it anymore and went to the ER. they did a CAT scan and found a golf ball sized mass in my abdomen...great..at this point in time, we are waiting to find out what it is, if it will go away or if i need to have surgery again..the wait is killing me.. the pain was supposed to be subsiding with some medicine they gave me but it is actually getting worse. i fear that instead of improving, it's growing or even spreading..i tend to terrify myself by anticipating the worst possible scenario..at this point, i'm concerned that the surgery may require the extraction of other organs like my gallbladder or an ovary or my whole reproductive system, and as always, it is scary when your symptoms match up with signs for ovarian cancer...i'll just have to wait and see..i go to the doctor again on wednesday (if i don't end up in the ER again before that). the pain, little sleep, and my full time work schedule are really taking a toll on me...i'm trying to find some internal strength..which leads me into my next big development..
all my life, i was looking up, looking for a sign that there was someone up there, bigger than me, watching over me....i wasn't rasied in a religious home, we didn't go to church but i always had this faith..that i knew one day it was going to make sense and i would feel a void being filled..recently (after deliberation, debate, and some down right refusal at points in time) i've been meeting with the missionaries with the LDS church...jordan was raised in the church and for the last few years, i've been what they call a dry mormon (not baptized) in that we live the standards for the most part and go to church sometimes and have had our children blessed. jordan was inactive for the better part of a decade and when i told him that i wanted to take the discussions, i was delighted to hear that he wanted to sit in and take them with me..a refreshed course for him and although i knew a lot about the church, there was so much more to find out. we've been attending church on sundays, visiting with the missionaries and also meeting other families in our ward and our neighborhood...it was been an amazing sense of belonging for us...one of the best things is that everyone has kids our kids ages and they have lots of kids to play with and we don't ever feel like we have to make an excuse for them because no one seems them as an disruption...they just talk right over them and pretend that they aren't being loud or rude. a lot of quesitons have been answered for me and we've been really happy because we feel a lot closer together. there are some sad points in this trip though...realizing that the things i did and knew were wrong anyway are still weighing on me, that i have hurts that haven't been comforted yet and that there are people in our life that mean so much to us that we want to help and reach out to and know that we can't or it isn't the right time...i told my mom that i was thinking of joining the church which was huge for me because there was a lot of mumblings and grumblings from my extended family when they heard i was marrying a morman..she was so surprising in her understanding and supportivness....i really was nervous abouyt bringing it up to her and i'm so glad that she was receptive..she did have some questions which i answered to the best of my ability but i love her for being there for me always, no matter what...i told my dad (which i was even more nervous about) and he said that he would still love me but is wanting to have a more serious discussion than text messaging would allow for, which i can understand.
we've just been so thankful for so the chance to meet so many wonderful families and also to realize that we already had so many great examples in our life already in our friends the perrys, burninghams, and francis' and of course, my in laws. it's still a work in progress (as is a lot in our life right now) but it is a joyful work...
so that is pretty much our news for the first part of the new year...i'll try and be better about updating this thing..as i type, dylan is pounding away at the jeyboard and landon is running amuck in the bedroom. there is not a lot of time for leisurly writing but i'll try and sneak away more frequently..
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Sunday, December 27, 2009
very busy christmas week
hello there! it's been awhile since my last post and it has been a week or so since i've been online..surprising, but we were so busy. the week before last kicked off the craziness.
landon went in for his second bronchoscopy. the doctors are still trying to figure out what is wrong with his breathing. they also did some other blood work while he was sedated. the results came back and said that landon is still aspirating into his lungs and he had an infection in his airways. they said just to keep waiting to it out to see if he'll grow out of it and to avoid him taking in lots of water ie submered in water or else he could drown with the all the fluid in his lungs...guess swim lessons are out for the time being.
on wednesday, jordan and i went to dinner with his boss and some people he worked with and it was an adult dinner...no kids. some friends we have babysat for us (gasp!)....in landon's two years of life it was the first time someone other than family had watched him. he did great though, there were lots of people there to entertain him. we also went to dinner with the perrys and the burninghams and all six of our kids in tow...it was interesting but not as bad as we probably all anticipated...they are getting older now and keep each other company, at least for a little bit.
dylan had his four month check up. he's in the 75th percentile for height and weight lol which is funny to us because landon never went through the chumky baby phase, but dylan is a tank of a kid. we have to take him to the ear nose and throat specialist (same ones that put landon's tubes in his ears) because they think dyl might have a deviated spetum or a collapsed nasal passage; he's always stuffy and his nose runs and he snorts a lot, sounds like a warthog....a cute warthog.
we had our version of christmas here before we left and it was nice...we didn't go too overboard with spending this year because we're saving up to landscape our backyard still .
then we braved taking both kids on the airplane to washington for christmas. with checked baggage as much as it costs, we were worried about how we were going to get stuff for 4 people for 8 days on the plane with us.....enter Space bags!! we packed all four of us in one suitcase and still made it under the 50 lb limit, just barely though. the boys did okay on the plane...it is difficult to keep landon contained to such a small space for any prolonged period of time. surprising enough, we werent' the mess you expect with two kids and two carry one items each. we made it through security, shoes and jackets off and all, in less time and with less hassle than most single travelers.
we got to washington and it was freezing! it was really cold but as soon as we got outside, you just breathed in evergreen trees and it feels like home again.
the first night we were there we went to a baptism for a friend of ours who has been a pseudo member of the church for a long time but finally took the plunge...pun intended. he had so many people there to bare witness to his committment, i told him he had the super bowlf of baptisms. it was really inspiring to watch; all those people having so much love and acceptance of his new life. you could really see it in his face too that he was changed instantly.
the next morning we went to church and dylan had his baby blessing; he slept through it but it was a beautiful blessing given by his grandpa dave. he gave dylan a blessing that he would be happy and healthy and strong throughout his life with strong faith....it moved us, just like when he did landons. it was the christmas prgram which is my favorite because i know all the songs and they are the perfect belnd of spirit, both in God and in the christmas sense which i guess is the more commercial sense of the word.
i got to go spend a little bit of time with my brother mikey and he got to see his nephews (meeting dylan for the first time). we did some christmas shopping and spent most of the rest of the day just hanging out, playing board games with the family and eating all the things you are expected to eat at christmas time but the kinds of foods your diet doesn't allow for....oh well....all in moderation which i did a good job with....no extra pounds gained..
i also got to see my very best friends tim and suzi!! they are the best kinds of friends because even though we go years sometimes before we see each other, we pick up right where we left off. we talk like we just saw each other the day before. i love them. i also got to see my friend nolan who had been serving in the armed forces, just got back from quatar and was back in town. he and i go way back and have been friends a long time and i'm glad he made it home safe and unharmed. we all had a good time and i hated not being able to see them more but when you want more time, it seems like it's always speeding away from you..
jordan and i got to spend a night together in seattle. we stayed at the edgewater hotel which is a rustic/modern hotel, makes you feel like you're in a ski lodge in the city, i loved it. we drive down with nayt and jaimie who were celebrating two years of marriage. they were a lot of fun to hang out with. we all went to dinner and the next day, we spent a good part of the day walking around pike place. we bought doughnuts that were the size of someone's head, we had fresh fruit that was delicious, we went to the first starbucks which i always wanted to do and we ate at this local cheese place for lunch. i got to do two things that i havne't been able to do in a long time.....take an uniterrupted nap AND and uninterrupted shower...it was divine!!
that night, we took the kids to the bellevue botanical gardens to see the light display they had there. landon wasn' in the best of moods but we made the best of it. it was insane the things they can do and make with christmas lights, i was really impressed... and i liked that it was free..most light displays were charging 10$ a person..no thank you..
on christmas eve, we had our christmas dinner with the whole family. kathy made chicken cord en blue (pardon the spelling) and lots of other yummy food and we ate until we were going to explode and then we played some more board games. p.s. i am awesome at apples to apples, just in case anyone wants to play against me....example. word was "innocent", i won with the card played of "adolf hitler".
the next morning was christmas!! we all opened gifts, exchanged thank yous, even landon said his. he suddenly has hit a language boom and will voice his wants and needs most of the time and copies what you say. i slept a good a good part of the day away after not sleeping at all the night before and then we just hung out the rest of the day.
on saturday we went to our friends mark and anne's house to have dinner and so landon could hang out with their daughter, the lovely and adorable miss gracie.they went back and forth from getting along to arguing to fighting to chillin on the couch....and only one head on collision that left them both in tears momentarily. mark and anne are always a source of entertainment for us and it's so easy to hang out with them because there are very few topics that are off limits or don't end up to be hilarious. last night, we spent our time packing. we had to leave the house at 330am to catch a 515 flight....ugh....we did it that way to avoid a layover.
we drug ourselves and our sleepy little ones through security and onto the plane for the 2 hr and 45 mins flight home. dylan slept almost the entire time, jordan and i kept drifting off and landon stayed quiet most of the time since brought the zune with us, loaded with kid movies...it's a handheld wonder!
today, we upacked, bathed the kids, showered, cleaned, went and finally bought landon's bed for his big boy room and put it all together. it was a very productive day (so far) considering that we only got maybe two hours of sleep. now we're home and it's bittersweet...both in that we are awar again from our family and we're back to our regular routine in the morning.
we had so much fun this trip and it is so awesome to see how close landon and his grandparents and uncles and aunts all are. dylan just loved and cuddled everyone and landon is getting to the age where he really can express how much he loves you and it just broke my heart when we left this morning and he looked back and at grandma and grandpa getting in the car to leave...the look on his face was so sad....but i know that we are going to see them again soon and he'll be even more excited, and so will we!
here is a link for pictures from our trip
www.picasaweb.google.com/dunnboy10
landon went in for his second bronchoscopy. the doctors are still trying to figure out what is wrong with his breathing. they also did some other blood work while he was sedated. the results came back and said that landon is still aspirating into his lungs and he had an infection in his airways. they said just to keep waiting to it out to see if he'll grow out of it and to avoid him taking in lots of water ie submered in water or else he could drown with the all the fluid in his lungs...guess swim lessons are out for the time being.
on wednesday, jordan and i went to dinner with his boss and some people he worked with and it was an adult dinner...no kids. some friends we have babysat for us (gasp!)....in landon's two years of life it was the first time someone other than family had watched him. he did great though, there were lots of people there to entertain him. we also went to dinner with the perrys and the burninghams and all six of our kids in tow...it was interesting but not as bad as we probably all anticipated...they are getting older now and keep each other company, at least for a little bit.
dylan had his four month check up. he's in the 75th percentile for height and weight lol which is funny to us because landon never went through the chumky baby phase, but dylan is a tank of a kid. we have to take him to the ear nose and throat specialist (same ones that put landon's tubes in his ears) because they think dyl might have a deviated spetum or a collapsed nasal passage; he's always stuffy and his nose runs and he snorts a lot, sounds like a warthog....a cute warthog.
we had our version of christmas here before we left and it was nice...we didn't go too overboard with spending this year because we're saving up to landscape our backyard still .
then we braved taking both kids on the airplane to washington for christmas. with checked baggage as much as it costs, we were worried about how we were going to get stuff for 4 people for 8 days on the plane with us.....enter Space bags!! we packed all four of us in one suitcase and still made it under the 50 lb limit, just barely though. the boys did okay on the plane...it is difficult to keep landon contained to such a small space for any prolonged period of time. surprising enough, we werent' the mess you expect with two kids and two carry one items each. we made it through security, shoes and jackets off and all, in less time and with less hassle than most single travelers.
we got to washington and it was freezing! it was really cold but as soon as we got outside, you just breathed in evergreen trees and it feels like home again.
the first night we were there we went to a baptism for a friend of ours who has been a pseudo member of the church for a long time but finally took the plunge...pun intended. he had so many people there to bare witness to his committment, i told him he had the super bowlf of baptisms. it was really inspiring to watch; all those people having so much love and acceptance of his new life. you could really see it in his face too that he was changed instantly.
the next morning we went to church and dylan had his baby blessing; he slept through it but it was a beautiful blessing given by his grandpa dave. he gave dylan a blessing that he would be happy and healthy and strong throughout his life with strong faith....it moved us, just like when he did landons. it was the christmas prgram which is my favorite because i know all the songs and they are the perfect belnd of spirit, both in God and in the christmas sense which i guess is the more commercial sense of the word.
i got to go spend a little bit of time with my brother mikey and he got to see his nephews (meeting dylan for the first time). we did some christmas shopping and spent most of the rest of the day just hanging out, playing board games with the family and eating all the things you are expected to eat at christmas time but the kinds of foods your diet doesn't allow for....oh well....all in moderation which i did a good job with....no extra pounds gained..
i also got to see my very best friends tim and suzi!! they are the best kinds of friends because even though we go years sometimes before we see each other, we pick up right where we left off. we talk like we just saw each other the day before. i love them. i also got to see my friend nolan who had been serving in the armed forces, just got back from quatar and was back in town. he and i go way back and have been friends a long time and i'm glad he made it home safe and unharmed. we all had a good time and i hated not being able to see them more but when you want more time, it seems like it's always speeding away from you..
jordan and i got to spend a night together in seattle. we stayed at the edgewater hotel which is a rustic/modern hotel, makes you feel like you're in a ski lodge in the city, i loved it. we drive down with nayt and jaimie who were celebrating two years of marriage. they were a lot of fun to hang out with. we all went to dinner and the next day, we spent a good part of the day walking around pike place. we bought doughnuts that were the size of someone's head, we had fresh fruit that was delicious, we went to the first starbucks which i always wanted to do and we ate at this local cheese place for lunch. i got to do two things that i havne't been able to do in a long time.....take an uniterrupted nap AND and uninterrupted shower...it was divine!!
that night, we took the kids to the bellevue botanical gardens to see the light display they had there. landon wasn' in the best of moods but we made the best of it. it was insane the things they can do and make with christmas lights, i was really impressed... and i liked that it was free..most light displays were charging 10$ a person..no thank you..
on christmas eve, we had our christmas dinner with the whole family. kathy made chicken cord en blue (pardon the spelling) and lots of other yummy food and we ate until we were going to explode and then we played some more board games. p.s. i am awesome at apples to apples, just in case anyone wants to play against me....example. word was "innocent", i won with the card played of "adolf hitler".
the next morning was christmas!! we all opened gifts, exchanged thank yous, even landon said his. he suddenly has hit a language boom and will voice his wants and needs most of the time and copies what you say. i slept a good a good part of the day away after not sleeping at all the night before and then we just hung out the rest of the day.
on saturday we went to our friends mark and anne's house to have dinner and so landon could hang out with their daughter, the lovely and adorable miss gracie.they went back and forth from getting along to arguing to fighting to chillin on the couch....and only one head on collision that left them both in tears momentarily. mark and anne are always a source of entertainment for us and it's so easy to hang out with them because there are very few topics that are off limits or don't end up to be hilarious. last night, we spent our time packing. we had to leave the house at 330am to catch a 515 flight....ugh....we did it that way to avoid a layover.
we drug ourselves and our sleepy little ones through security and onto the plane for the 2 hr and 45 mins flight home. dylan slept almost the entire time, jordan and i kept drifting off and landon stayed quiet most of the time since brought the zune with us, loaded with kid movies...it's a handheld wonder!
today, we upacked, bathed the kids, showered, cleaned, went and finally bought landon's bed for his big boy room and put it all together. it was a very productive day (so far) considering that we only got maybe two hours of sleep. now we're home and it's bittersweet...both in that we are awar again from our family and we're back to our regular routine in the morning.
we had so much fun this trip and it is so awesome to see how close landon and his grandparents and uncles and aunts all are. dylan just loved and cuddled everyone and landon is getting to the age where he really can express how much he loves you and it just broke my heart when we left this morning and he looked back and at grandma and grandpa getting in the car to leave...the look on his face was so sad....but i know that we are going to see them again soon and he'll be even more excited, and so will we!
here is a link for pictures from our trip
www.picasaweb.google.com/dunnboy10
Friday, October 30, 2009
my little boy is two today......
landon turned two today...it is a bittersweet feeling..maybe even more so than when he turned one. at one, he was still kind of a baby and now, he is becoming more and more of a big boy. we bought him a big boy bed for his birthday and soon, we will be embarking on the joyous event of pottytraining. looking at him, i can still his round little baby face with the perfectly chubby cheeks. those big blues eyes still steal my heart. i'm so blessed (most of the time, he is a toddler afterall) to have him. he makes us laugh all the time. for instance, today at the doctor, we were waiting to be seen by the nurse and he in his diaper. he got down in a bear crawl position and was doing this weird, interpretive dance kind of thing..i was in tears it was so funny. he makes us very proud of him as he learns and grows in his life. he is becoming a well rounded athlete, liking all sports. he loves to go watch his uncle kyle play softball...it's adorable. he jumps up and down and claps and cheers for him. he loves soccer and for his birthday, we got him a nerf football which he can catch pretty well and throw also. there are so many things i love about my little bubba....even when he is trying my patience and driving jordan nuts, it doesn't take much for him to win us over, a little bubba-chatter, a wide huge smile, and hug accompanied by a his "aww" sound of affection. the cutest thing is when he is being a big brother. i felt really guilty in the begining, having another baby. i felt like landon wouldn't understand or accept another child in the house. he has been great. he likes to feed dylan and hug him and he get upset if he thinks we are all going to the car without him. i almost cried the other day when i saw him sitting dy dylan's swing and patting him on the tummy because the baby was crying. dylan loves his brother. he laughs and smiles at him all the time. landon is still trying to figure things out about the world.....like candy is supposed to be a treat and not a diet staple; that steps aren't the only things to climb, that shots hurt, that a hug from daddy usually makes it all better and mommy makes the ouchies go away, that grandparents live far away and it is the best thing to spend time together with family, that a doggy doesn't like his tail pulled, that doors can lock behind you, that big boys use the big potty, balls aren't the only things you can throw, bathtime does equal playtime, and that you get places sooner when you run really fast.
so to you (landon, lando, landy pants, mr bubba, bubbas, bunkin, bucket) we love you! we love your blue eyes, your belly laugh when you're being tickled, your "boston" accent, your faux hawk, your inability to walk anywhere and how fast you are, your tip toe walk, your excity boy, your gibberish, your bedtime hugs and kisses for everyone, your desire to drink from the big cup with the straw, your dipping sauce addiction, your soccer ball kicking, your mean mugging, your kung fu master karate skills, your "ah man!", your chocolate milk obession, your binky addiction, your three blankies at all times, your cuddles, your not talking on the phone when someone is talking to you, your animal noises, your ears, big brother protectiveness, and everything else that makes you!!!!
so to you (landon, lando, landy pants, mr bubba, bubbas, bunkin, bucket) we love you! we love your blue eyes, your belly laugh when you're being tickled, your "boston" accent, your faux hawk, your inability to walk anywhere and how fast you are, your tip toe walk, your excity boy, your gibberish, your bedtime hugs and kisses for everyone, your desire to drink from the big cup with the straw, your dipping sauce addiction, your soccer ball kicking, your mean mugging, your kung fu master karate skills, your "ah man!", your chocolate milk obession, your binky addiction, your three blankies at all times, your cuddles, your not talking on the phone when someone is talking to you, your animal noises, your ears, big brother protectiveness, and everything else that makes you!!!!
Thursday, October 8, 2009
mommy duty
the day came...the day to go back to work. it hadn't really hit me until today. i was at work and jordan sent me a text asking me if landon had eaten breakfast. i replied with a snapshot of his day; carnation instant breakfast and mickey mouse clubhouse, breakfast about an hour later, nap around noon, lunch, then an afternoon snack about 4. it made me sad; having to run down the details of my child's day instead of being there.....the guilt only intensified when a text came later in the morning that landon was throwing up (which he never does) and had a fever. i've been beating myself up all day long because i can't be there with him, to cuddle and comfort him. we had so much time together that now, when i leave, i can't imagine what i'll do without him for 8 hours....add to that my little guy dylan. seeing them and jordan at the end of the day is what fuels me and keeps me going the rest of the day. after being home so long on bedrest and maternity leave, i will scream it from the rooftop that being a full time mom is the hardest full time job ever! being an insurance agent is nothng comapred to being a mom from sun up to sun down...now, i'm a mom and wife for a few hours in the morning, an insurance agent all day, a mom and wife at night...not to mention the times i'm a mover, a maid, a laundress, and all the other hats i wear during the day. mommy duty is hard work!!
now, i will leave my desk at work and go home to a little boy who has the flu, a little boy who is learning to smile (steals your heart) and a husband who has had a rough day dealing with everything else on top of trying to get some work done!! bless him!!
now, i will leave my desk at work and go home to a little boy who has the flu, a little boy who is learning to smile (steals your heart) and a husband who has had a rough day dealing with everything else on top of trying to get some work done!! bless him!!
Saturday, September 5, 2009
updates...
the past two weeks have been eventful for us here in the dunn household. we brought our new beautiful baby boy home from the hospital and spent the first few days getting adjusted to life with two kids. we kept landon on his schedule which helped; he was still expected to go to bed around the same time as usual and take his afternoon nap and he still got his carnation breakfast in the morning. dylan blessed us the first few days with long periods of sleep during the night. i only had to get once during the night to feed him. he is a milk monster!! he ates a lot and often and luckily, breastfeeding is going a lot better than it did with landon. i found out though that i am not the type that can feed in public when i was in the waiting room at the doctor's office with dylan. the woman next to me just dropped her shirt down and latched the kid on and then covered up. i thought you were supposed to cover up first but she had no reservations. not for me. dylan is a sweet baby and loves to cuddle, which i love. i miss those cuddle days with landon, when he would just lay on my chest and by comforted by the sound of my heartbeat. he still cuddles now, but not as often as he used to.
last week, we got a phone call to tell us that my grandpa had died. he went in for an angioplasty and was kept overnight for observation. the next day, he was released and was home visiting with friends from out of town and his family and all of sudden, he dropped to the ground. the doctor's said they think it was a blood clot that dislodged and went to his heart. he didn't suffer at all, which is a good thing. today was his funeral and i'm sad because we weren't able to make it. the plane tickets were outrageous and it's a seven and half drive there...we just weren't ready to take the kids in the car for that long. i will miss him, calling and joking around with him. i was really sad because i had sent him pictures of dylan and landon and they were supposed to go pick them up at walmart but didn't make it...he never got to see what his new great grandson looked like. my cell phone wasn't sending pictures for some reason, but the day after he died, the phone suddenly started sending pictures again. strange.
kathy, my mother in law, came and spent last week with us. i love when she comes to visit because landon seems so happy when she's here. he loves to be around his family and he and her have a special bond. plus, she is such fun company to have. we all went out together for dinner, us and logan and felicia and taylor and kyle and it was great. i love having a sense of family. she had to leave this morning, early this morning, and we hope to see them again soon. i think we are going to try and go up to washington for christmas.
another thing that has been happening is our pursuit of a new house. we have an offer in an house that has been pending for over two months now and so we decided to look around some more. we found one and tried to buy it, but the seller was shady and after three days, we still didn't agree to his ridiculous contract terms. he sold it to someone else from underneath us. i guess it's for the better considering how difficult he was. yesterday, we found another house that we love! we hope that our offer goes through on this house but there is a lot of other interest in it. we're keeping our fingers crossed.
so everyone here in the dunn house is doing okay...the baby is growing and happy, landon is getting to be a good big brother and learning what "gentle" and "careful" means, and jordan and i are cleaning up the constant messes and enjoying the time off from work together. jordan has to go back to work full time next week so i'll be wrangling the boys by myself three days a week. wish me luck :)
last week, we got a phone call to tell us that my grandpa had died. he went in for an angioplasty and was kept overnight for observation. the next day, he was released and was home visiting with friends from out of town and his family and all of sudden, he dropped to the ground. the doctor's said they think it was a blood clot that dislodged and went to his heart. he didn't suffer at all, which is a good thing. today was his funeral and i'm sad because we weren't able to make it. the plane tickets were outrageous and it's a seven and half drive there...we just weren't ready to take the kids in the car for that long. i will miss him, calling and joking around with him. i was really sad because i had sent him pictures of dylan and landon and they were supposed to go pick them up at walmart but didn't make it...he never got to see what his new great grandson looked like. my cell phone wasn't sending pictures for some reason, but the day after he died, the phone suddenly started sending pictures again. strange.
kathy, my mother in law, came and spent last week with us. i love when she comes to visit because landon seems so happy when she's here. he loves to be around his family and he and her have a special bond. plus, she is such fun company to have. we all went out together for dinner, us and logan and felicia and taylor and kyle and it was great. i love having a sense of family. she had to leave this morning, early this morning, and we hope to see them again soon. i think we are going to try and go up to washington for christmas.
another thing that has been happening is our pursuit of a new house. we have an offer in an house that has been pending for over two months now and so we decided to look around some more. we found one and tried to buy it, but the seller was shady and after three days, we still didn't agree to his ridiculous contract terms. he sold it to someone else from underneath us. i guess it's for the better considering how difficult he was. yesterday, we found another house that we love! we hope that our offer goes through on this house but there is a lot of other interest in it. we're keeping our fingers crossed.
so everyone here in the dunn house is doing okay...the baby is growing and happy, landon is getting to be a good big brother and learning what "gentle" and "careful" means, and jordan and i are cleaning up the constant messes and enjoying the time off from work together. jordan has to go back to work full time next week so i'll be wrangling the boys by myself three days a week. wish me luck :)
Saturday, August 22, 2009
he's finally here!!!!
the wait is over! our second son, dylan nash, was born august 20th at 11:34am...but it was no easy road to get him here that's for sure.
after dealing with preterm labor since week 24 and being out of work and on bedrest, we finally got the point where the doctor said we could be induced, that was on the 11th. i was put on the induction list at arrowhead hospital for sunday the 16th starting at 8pm. that sunday, we took landon to chuck e cheese so we could spend some time with him before his brother came. he loved it, but got overwhelmed by all the kids. he wasn't crazy about the big, talking, dancing mouse either, which i thought most kids loved.
sunday night came and went...as did all day monday and all day tuesday and all day wednesday. the whole process was ridiculous!! i would call and ask how long it would take to get in, they would say "we'll call you". they would call me and say "you're still waiting". my doctor would call and they would tell him "keep waiting". for four days straight there was apparently never an opening. i was in so much pain and back labor and all the waiting through the nights was keeping us from sleeping. finally, my doctor called another nearby hospital to see if they could get me in. there was an opening thursday morning at 2am and so we waited to hear if that was going to work out. we got a call at 2am to be into banner thunderbird by 3am. thank heavens!!! some relief was near knowing we didn't have to keep waiting by the phone.
we dropped landon off with logan and felicia. we had them on standby all week just in case we had to get called in in the middle of the night. he wasn't too happy about it at first, but logan said he calmed down pretty soon after we left. i felt sad knowing that my baby boy wasn't going to be the baby anymore and he had no idea.
we got settled into the hospital, prepaid for their service (which is some new hospital policy and it may have been to early for the lady to get jordan's joke about what they do with the babies if you can't pay ahead of time for them), and went to our room. the hospital is really nice and the people were nice to us. they started pitocin on me right away and asked me about 100 questions, one of which being what the maximum pain i could tolerate would be. i assumed this was to gauge whether or not i was going to need the drugs and i said yes, i will be asking for them at some point. dr erickson came around 7 and broke my water, which is the most disgusting feeling ever but for the sake of any male readers, i'll spare the details. jordan left for a few mintues to get landon and take him to daycare for the afternoon. we would have kept him with us but landon isn't one to be contained and there were too many things for him to mess with and get in trouble. while jordan was gone, i got to experience the horrible pain of real labor. last time with landon, i had the epidural early and so i never really felt the intense contractions....but i sure felt them this time!!! i thought i was dying! it was terrible. jordan called and asked how i was and all i said was "come back". he came back and then the wonderful anthesia doctor came back!! she was my hero. the medicine made me a little loopy and had to be administered twice for it to work but it finally took effect and it was so much better after that. each leg felt like it weighed 100 pounds.
at 10:45 i was ready to go. i pushed with the nurses for three sets of contractions and then had to stop because the baby was coming out and we had to wait for the doctor to come back. it took him a little while to come back and when he did, i only pushed a couple of times and then, there he was.
it was a totally different feeling than what i felt with landon. i didn't know what to expect but when he came out, i was overjoyed! i had been so worried that this day wouldn't come because of the early complications and i was worried all throughout the pregnancy that this day would be tainted with rushing nurses and doctors and oxygen masks and loud beeping of monitors. when it all went smoothly, it was mroe than i ever could have asked for. i was so happy. so was jordan! he is the cutest daddy ever. his face was just lit up and he was so excited to see them measure and weigh him. he weighed in at 8 pounds, 1 ounce.....big boy!!! we all guessed he would be in the 7's somewhere. he was 20 1/8 inches long and he was built like a little bulldog, just stout with a barrel chest and chubby arms and legs. he had blonde hair and looked very similar to landon. another beautiful boy. we are so blessed!
all his tests came back good so we were able to keep him in the room with us the whole time, expect he had to stay under the heat lamps for the first few hours because he was struggling with his temperature a little. that night, jordan brought landon back to meet his brother. he was more excited than i thought he would be! he wanted to kiss the baby and hold him and give him hugs. later on, kyle and his friend britt came to visit and landon was so excited. he loves kyle!! the perry family too and we were so happy to see them. they brought their little girl kamryn and she is two months old now, which i can't believe! she's so adorable. landon was elated that kade was there to play with him, although the hospital room isn't the best place for boys to play...lots of buttons that call people and make noises and sound alarms. the perry's were so awesome; they took landon home with them so jordan could get some sleep..he was exhausted beyond belief.
we got to go home the next evening and today has been our first full day home. it's taking some getting used to with landon and the baby. he isn't always willing to share his time and attention and he doesn't fully understand what is going on yet. we have to say "be gentle" about 100 times an hour to him. dylan is good though. he sleeps a lot but has been awake a lot today..so hopefully he sleeps tonight. last night was a little rough because dylan was getting used to being home, landon got woke up by the monsoon and wanted to come to bed with us, and gage was having seizures (caused from the new stress or the heat probably).
my family feels pretty complete now. everyone keeps asking if we are going to have another one, to get a girl or whatever, but i like having my three guys. i'm outnumbered but i know that it is going to be so fun....going to soccer games, camping, playing baseball, doing all the boy things with them as they grow up together. i'm so lucky to have these two boys in my life and i'm even luckier to have such a wonderful husband! he has been awesome through this whole process, he was amazing in the delivery room, and he is so supportive now that we're home. i loved seeing him and dylan sleeping on the couch together last night.
so now we're home and our life starts a new chapter. it'll be interesting to see what is written for us to come.
after dealing with preterm labor since week 24 and being out of work and on bedrest, we finally got the point where the doctor said we could be induced, that was on the 11th. i was put on the induction list at arrowhead hospital for sunday the 16th starting at 8pm. that sunday, we took landon to chuck e cheese so we could spend some time with him before his brother came. he loved it, but got overwhelmed by all the kids. he wasn't crazy about the big, talking, dancing mouse either, which i thought most kids loved.
sunday night came and went...as did all day monday and all day tuesday and all day wednesday. the whole process was ridiculous!! i would call and ask how long it would take to get in, they would say "we'll call you". they would call me and say "you're still waiting". my doctor would call and they would tell him "keep waiting". for four days straight there was apparently never an opening. i was in so much pain and back labor and all the waiting through the nights was keeping us from sleeping. finally, my doctor called another nearby hospital to see if they could get me in. there was an opening thursday morning at 2am and so we waited to hear if that was going to work out. we got a call at 2am to be into banner thunderbird by 3am. thank heavens!!! some relief was near knowing we didn't have to keep waiting by the phone.
we dropped landon off with logan and felicia. we had them on standby all week just in case we had to get called in in the middle of the night. he wasn't too happy about it at first, but logan said he calmed down pretty soon after we left. i felt sad knowing that my baby boy wasn't going to be the baby anymore and he had no idea.
we got settled into the hospital, prepaid for their service (which is some new hospital policy and it may have been to early for the lady to get jordan's joke about what they do with the babies if you can't pay ahead of time for them), and went to our room. the hospital is really nice and the people were nice to us. they started pitocin on me right away and asked me about 100 questions, one of which being what the maximum pain i could tolerate would be. i assumed this was to gauge whether or not i was going to need the drugs and i said yes, i will be asking for them at some point. dr erickson came around 7 and broke my water, which is the most disgusting feeling ever but for the sake of any male readers, i'll spare the details. jordan left for a few mintues to get landon and take him to daycare for the afternoon. we would have kept him with us but landon isn't one to be contained and there were too many things for him to mess with and get in trouble. while jordan was gone, i got to experience the horrible pain of real labor. last time with landon, i had the epidural early and so i never really felt the intense contractions....but i sure felt them this time!!! i thought i was dying! it was terrible. jordan called and asked how i was and all i said was "come back". he came back and then the wonderful anthesia doctor came back!! she was my hero. the medicine made me a little loopy and had to be administered twice for it to work but it finally took effect and it was so much better after that. each leg felt like it weighed 100 pounds.
at 10:45 i was ready to go. i pushed with the nurses for three sets of contractions and then had to stop because the baby was coming out and we had to wait for the doctor to come back. it took him a little while to come back and when he did, i only pushed a couple of times and then, there he was.
it was a totally different feeling than what i felt with landon. i didn't know what to expect but when he came out, i was overjoyed! i had been so worried that this day wouldn't come because of the early complications and i was worried all throughout the pregnancy that this day would be tainted with rushing nurses and doctors and oxygen masks and loud beeping of monitors. when it all went smoothly, it was mroe than i ever could have asked for. i was so happy. so was jordan! he is the cutest daddy ever. his face was just lit up and he was so excited to see them measure and weigh him. he weighed in at 8 pounds, 1 ounce.....big boy!!! we all guessed he would be in the 7's somewhere. he was 20 1/8 inches long and he was built like a little bulldog, just stout with a barrel chest and chubby arms and legs. he had blonde hair and looked very similar to landon. another beautiful boy. we are so blessed!
all his tests came back good so we were able to keep him in the room with us the whole time, expect he had to stay under the heat lamps for the first few hours because he was struggling with his temperature a little. that night, jordan brought landon back to meet his brother. he was more excited than i thought he would be! he wanted to kiss the baby and hold him and give him hugs. later on, kyle and his friend britt came to visit and landon was so excited. he loves kyle!! the perry family too and we were so happy to see them. they brought their little girl kamryn and she is two months old now, which i can't believe! she's so adorable. landon was elated that kade was there to play with him, although the hospital room isn't the best place for boys to play...lots of buttons that call people and make noises and sound alarms. the perry's were so awesome; they took landon home with them so jordan could get some sleep..he was exhausted beyond belief.
we got to go home the next evening and today has been our first full day home. it's taking some getting used to with landon and the baby. he isn't always willing to share his time and attention and he doesn't fully understand what is going on yet. we have to say "be gentle" about 100 times an hour to him. dylan is good though. he sleeps a lot but has been awake a lot today..so hopefully he sleeps tonight. last night was a little rough because dylan was getting used to being home, landon got woke up by the monsoon and wanted to come to bed with us, and gage was having seizures (caused from the new stress or the heat probably).
my family feels pretty complete now. everyone keeps asking if we are going to have another one, to get a girl or whatever, but i like having my three guys. i'm outnumbered but i know that it is going to be so fun....going to soccer games, camping, playing baseball, doing all the boy things with them as they grow up together. i'm so lucky to have these two boys in my life and i'm even luckier to have such a wonderful husband! he has been awesome through this whole process, he was amazing in the delivery room, and he is so supportive now that we're home. i loved seeing him and dylan sleeping on the couch together last night.
so now we're home and our life starts a new chapter. it'll be interesting to see what is written for us to come.
Sunday, August 2, 2009
tick, tick, tick
baby dylan update.....he's still in there. as of last wednesday, i was allowed to stop taking all the medicine to keep him from coming and my doctor said that if he was to try and come, he wouldn't postpone it at all. over the last few days, every little twinge and contraction and pain has me reaching for the hospital bags and the car keys. i keep waiting impatiently however...i'm waiting for a clear cut sign that it's time...mainly because i don't want to pay the bill only to be sent home to wait some more. so here we are, closing in on 37 weeks and the doctor has given me the "any day now" sentence. between waiting for dylan to come and waiting to hear about the offer we made on our house, the suspense is killing us.....ah, how wonderful it would be to be landon; blissfully unaware of everything that is about to change. he is still too young to understand that soon, that huge mass that has been growing in mommy is about to become a human whom he will have to share us with. he thinks babies are cute and he seems to know that he needs to be gentle around them but it will be interesting to see how he copes with a baby brother. i think the biggest frustration for him will be that the baby won't be able to play with him right away. instead, he will be demanding time and attention from us that landon is usually obliged to soak up in mass quanity. i was telling jordan the other day that i almost feel guilty for having another baby.....maybe it's an expecting mom thing, or maybe not but i feel like it isn't going to be fair to landon. i feel like he will think that he wasn't enough for us (which IS NOT the case because he is MORE than enough). case in point: we went to lunch today and it was so hot out and landon wanted a drink of our drink because it had a straw. he just figured out how to use them so he likes to try whenever he can. the drink was diet pepsi. landon went crazy!! he was yelling and running around walmart after lunch, pulling things off the shelf, climbing in and out of the cart, taking off down the aisle in a sprint...more than usual. he was so wired! after just a few minutes in the car on the drive home, he crashed hard. he was so exhausted that he didn't even wake up when i took him out of the car seat and took his shoes off to lie him down for a nap. that boy!!!
so for now, the restless nights filled with anticipation and the long days waiting around is what we are doing....we'll keep you posted in the event that something climatic happens....hoping it happens soon...
so for now, the restless nights filled with anticipation and the long days waiting around is what we are doing....we'll keep you posted in the event that something climatic happens....hoping it happens soon...
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