This year has started out with Brandt starting a new job. His job at Venturi lost funding,
so we were searching for a new job before Christmas. At the beginning all the jobs interested in him (That
had to do with android development) were all around Nashville, and we were beginning to think that we would
need to move. However we truly lucked out, and a job that fit what we were looking for perfectly opened up
in the area. Brandt interviewed, and then started working at Davidson on January 5th.
The kids are all doing good. Phoenix has still been a bit sick
off and on. I guess I have gotten used to him being congested (Since he has been that way since birth)…..
I brought Scarlet to the doctor a couple months ago and while I was there the pediatrician asked to look
at Phoenix. After checking him out he looked at me and asked “How long has he been congested?” All I
could do was stare at him. After all he has always been that way. After a few seconds the doctor added
“I know he has been sick a lot, but how long has he been congested this time?” I thought for a minute
and said “About 6 months.” I mean he has never had a fever so I didn’t worry about it too much. We put
him on some antibiotics and he cleared up right away. When the antibiotics were over he got congested
within 3 days and was absolutely miserable and pitiful. Part of me felt like a bad mother because I
began to regret putting him on antibiotics in the first place because he was happier before learning
what it was like to feel so much better. I called the immunologist office and they ordered in some lab
work and rechecked his pneumococcal antibody levels. They are still low, but not super low. We did
an aggressive 20 day run of antibiotics (which he is finishing today) and then we will keep him on
nasal steroid spray. If he starts getting sick again he will take daily preventative antibiotics until
summer. The doctor thinks that his body will adjust and that he won’t have this problem for his whole
life. He will probably grow out of it in the next couple years.
Covey is going to be getting his tonsils out in the near future.
He started to complain that he wasn’t sleeping well at night. That he kept waking up and could not sleep.
On top of that he was having times where he was just really grumpy – and seemed tired. I started going
into his room at night and he was snoring. We decided to check out his tonsils because they have always
been huge and we were told over the years to watch for sleep apnea. They did a sleep study right before
Christmas and found that he does have sleep apnea. His brain was waking up almost twice an hour from
loss of oxygen. We will be scheduling getting his tonsils out.
Jerrica is loving school. (She is in Pre-K) Infact the couple
times recently that she was woken up crying because of a bad dream…. The dream was always that something
happened and she couldn’t go to school anymore. She is learning quickly, and wants to know as much as
her brothers so badly. We are still working with her on not getting sassy as much, and to not beg other
people for treats. She absolutely loves helping mom out (As long as it isn’t cleaning), and her new
favorite thing is putting a new bag in the kitchen garbage can when the trash is taken out.
"Scarlet is doing good. She is probably hands down our most
calm baby. She is happy pretty much all day and only fusses when she is hungry. She loves Phoenix to
pieces. He wants to hold her almost every day and she will just sit there giggling and smiling at him
the whole time.
There are several stories to write from last week…
First Jerrica is something else. Sometimes she is just too smart for her own good. She knows
the things she is supposed to do (She is only 3) and most of the time still chooses not to do them. One day
she had been particularly bad about listening to me and by the time naptime rolled around I was losing my patience.
During the first 15 minutes of naptime she came out of her room 3 times. On the third time she went and used
the bathroom. When she came back she was just doddering in the living room trying to avoid going back to bed
for as long as possible. I looked at her and said “Jerrica you need to put on your panties and get back into
bed.” She picked up her panties and then came over and sat on the ottoman across from me. She took a deep
breath and said quietly “Mommy… sometimes you just need to ask me nicely. You need to say ‘Jerrica will you
please put on your panties, in this kind of voice’”. I took a deep breath (So as not to lose my patience)
and said “Jerrica will you please put on your panties?” She replied “Why yes mommy, thank you for asking
me so nicely”. She then put on her panties and went to bed.
Jerrica also likes to torment Xander sometimes. On Thursday last week she was kicking him on the couch.
(They had been bugging each other all day) I was just walking out to the living room to handle the situation
when Xander finally lost his patience with her and hit her with a controller. I sent them to separate rooms
for time out. After a little while I called Xander over and talked to him. After about 10 minutes of talking
to him I finally got him to repeat back to me that we “Don’t hit”. After talking to him I went into Jerrica’s
room. I walked in and asked “Why are you in time out Jerrica?”
She replied “I was kicking Xander.”
I then asked “Are we supposed to kick?”
She said “No we aren’t supposed to kick or hit.”
I sighed and said “what are you supposed to do?”
She then rambled off matter of factly “I’m supposed to use my words and talk to mommy instead of hitting.”
REALLY?!?!?!?!? If she knows it so well why does she do it?
On Friday last week Brandt, Covey, Caitlin, and I went on a special
overnight trip to Atlanta. I was really nervous to go because Phoenix had a double ear infection and was still
not acting normal after 5 days of antibiotics. My friend told me to go anyway and that they would help out
if their daughter, who was going to be watching my kids, had any problems. We left around noon and drove to
Atlanta to go to “Fright Fest” at Six Flags. On the way down we were talking to Covey about the word
‘embarrassed’. He has been using the word a lot, but never in the right context so we were trying to
explain what it meant. When we arrived we checked into our hotel room and then planned to drive across
the freeway to get some food at Wendy’s before entering the park. However while we were waiting at the
streetlight Brandt got talking and instead of turning left to cross over the freeway, he went straight and
got onto the on-ramp again. It was 4 miles before we were able to turn around and head back. Brandt was
getting frustrated because we were going to be entering the park later than we had wanted to when Covey
piped up from the back seat “Man! That’s embarrassing!” I laughed so hard I snorted. I wish I had a
picture of the look on Brandt’s face.
I am not a fan of roller coaster rides. I am not embarrassed to
say that they frighten me a bit. At one point during the night Brandt and Caitlin went off to ride the big
roller coaster “Golliath” and Covey got me to go on the “Mind Bender” with him. I waited in line with Covey
for 45 minutes and then got onto the ride. It had a couple of loops in it (Which I had never been on a ride
with loops before) but I still was fine all the way up to the ride and even when it started. However when we
got to the top of the first hill and I looked ahead at the track I quietly said “Oh crap….” and then screamed
a bit here and there during the ride. The minute the ride ended Covey reached over and started to rub my arm
(I had not let go of the bar in front of us yet) saying “It’s okay mommy. You can let go now. You don’t have
to be scared anymore the ride is all over.” I let go and smiled as people behind and in front of us were
chuckling. Then as we got off the ride and were walking away Covey informed me “Mommy I heard you say
‘oh crap’”. I looked at him and told him that he could just forget that he had heard me say that… to which
he smiled back and said “Oh mom… I don’t forget anything”
On Saturday we stopped at the World of Coca Cola in Atlanta before
coming home. It wasn’t as good as I thought it would be, but it was still interesting. The most interesting
part is that at the end of the tour they have a room with sodas that make all over the world that you can sample.
Unfortunately one of the first sodas I tried was “Beverly” from Italy. It was so bitter that it made my stomach
churn and I felt sick. I then tried a berry soda from Africa. That one was so sweet that I felt even sicker.
I went promptly over to North America and had some Sprite to get the flavor out of my mouth. On the way home
Brandt said “Man someone must have really hated a girl named Beverly” – that drink was nasty!
After getting home from Atlanta I found out that things had not gone
very smoothly for my babysitter. She had called her parents at midnight to tell them that Phoenix was crying a
lot. My friend Sarah told her that she could give Phoenix some Tylenol and that it would help his ears to feel
better. Fifteen minutes she called home again because the baby was still crying. Her dad came over and 12:30am
and stayed here awake rocking and feeding my baby until 3am when he finally calmed down and went to sleep.
Then he just slept on our couch until 6am when he had to get up to be somewhere. I felt so bad that he ended
up being up all night with our baby that we delivered cookies to them the next day. At the same time it is also
reassuring to me to know that he showed Phoenix so much love and care while I was gone.
>
This week has had a few interesting moments. On Tuesday The three older
kids all had dentist appointments. I brought them there and they all did great! The appointment got over much
quicker than I had thought it would, and I had not packed a lunch for covey. I decided to just stop at the grocery
store with the kids and get some groceries, and some lunch for Covey to bring to school. While there Jerrica started
saying “I need to go potty”. She had just gone potty at the dentist so I told her that she would need to wait until
we got home. However a few minutes later she was freaking out shouting “I REALY need to go potty! The Pee-Pee is
coming!” In order to avoid an accident in the grocery store I went to the back where the restrooms were. Since I
had the baby in the cart, all the food, and all four kids I told Covey to help Jerrica go potty. He looked at me
shocked and said “But I’m a boy!” I then told him ”I know but you are also a big brother, and mommy really needs
your help right now”. He then took Jerrica into the men’s restroom while I waited outside with Xander and Phoenix.
A minute later I heard Jerrica screaming and crying. She was calling my name and having a total melt down in the mens
restroom. I knew there were other men in there so I tried telling her through the door that she was fine and so just
go potty. Covey then opened the door wide and I saw that Jerrica was lying on her stomach on the bathroom floor throwing
a full blown tantrum. I told her to come out to me but she laid there wiping her hands back and forth across the floor
yelling for me to come in and get her. Needless to say I was rather grossed out to see her laying on a public restroom
floor. I finally got her to walk out to me and then I had Covey stay with Phoenix while I brought her to the bathroom
and scrubbed her hands. Jerrica then cried all of the way out of the store.
Wednesday I had to bring Phoenix back to the doctor. He had finished his
antibiotics but he did not seem better. I couldn’t find a sitter for the other kids so I took them with me. They
were all good at the doctor’s office. I found out that Phoenix still has a double ear infection. They aren’t sure
while it didn’t clear up, but they are trying a new antibiotic. If this antibiotic doesn’t work than we will go
see an ENT. After the doctor’s office I had to stop by the post office and mail a package. While there Jerrica
refused to stand next to me. Instead she went over to where they have a little store in the post office and
started to try and get into the necklaces and packing supplies. I finally had her stand next to me holding
her had so she could not get away. She was furious. She tried to pull my fingers off of her hand. When
that did not work she start to drop down to the ground (Which is bad for my back) so I picked her up. Needless to say
toward to end of the short post office trip I was carrying 3 year old Jerrica (Who was screaming for me to put her down),
and baby in a car sear, and a package…… Sigh
Wednesday was also Covey’s 7th Birthday. He was so cute. When I woke
him up in the morning he ran over to me and gave me such a big hug that he had his legs wrapped around me like a
monkey too. It was a school day and so we wanted to keep things simple but special for his birthday. I tried hard
to make a train birthday cake, and we had Grandma and Grandpa Horrocks, Caitlin, and his best friend Christopher
over for Cake that night. It all turned out great other than at the end of the night (about an hour past normal bed
time) Xander stepped on a balloon and fell over. He started crying that his arm hurt. However it was late and he was
super tired. I calmed him down and everyone went to bed.
The next morning Xander could hardly use his arm. He cradled it to his body,
and it hurt to hold on to things like a spoon. I called the pediatrician and then ordered some x-rays for me. I then
dropped Phoenix and Jerrica off at a friend’s house and brought Xander in for x-rays. He did well but between getting
the x-ray and waiting for the results we were there for about two and a half hours. We found out that he had in fact
fractured the bone in his arm right above his elbow. The pediatrician called and scheduled an appointment for an hour
later at the Orthopedic Center. I called my friend Ann and she said not to worry that she would keep watching my other
kids till we were all done. Xander and I then got some lunch and headed over to his next appointment. I had to call
Coveys school and try to work things out for Covey to ride a different bus home since I would not be home in time for
school getting out. Xander now has a cast that he has to wear for 3-6 weeks. By the time we got his arm casted, picked
up all the kids, and got home it had been a six and a half hour long trip. The thing that bothers Xander the most about
his cast is that he cant use the mouse on the computer very well any more.
It has been a crazy couple of weeks. I went back into the doctor on August 16th because the pain in my chest
got so bad I couldn’t hardly breathe if I laid on my back, and if someone touched my chest I wanted to scream
in pain. They sent me in for an ultrasound and found out that I had a bunch of gallstones. It was late on
Friday and all the surgeons offices were closed to I waited though the weekend and on Monday they were able
to schedule me an appointment. I met with the surgeon Dr. Wilson on Tuesday the 20th, and had surgery to remove
my gallbladder the very next morning. It wasn’t too bad overall. I am very grateful for the priesthood blessing
that I had that helped me stay calm though it all. I was pretty sore for a few days and I couldn’t lift Phoenix
for a week. After two weeks my restrictions have now been lifted and I can start doing things as I feel able to.
On Monday last week we were home cleaning house together. It was
Labor Day so everyone was home. Our house had gotten a little cluttered since I had been sick for a few weeks
and then had surgery. During the middle of cleaning Covey got mad at Xander and hit him - Yelling and crying
then ensued. In order to be heard over all the noise I yelled “hey!” Covey then looked at me and started to
walked off to his room sobbing because “mommy yelled at him”. I called him back to the living room and then
all the kids sat on the couch while we had a talk. I explained that I was tired of the hitting that was going
on in the house. Covey quickly pointed out that Xander had made him mad. I told them that there are times
I get really mad at Daddy, and times that he gets really mad at me. Then I asked them if they had ever seen
daddy hit me, or vies a versa. They shook their heads no. I explained that it is wrong to hit, and that if
you love someone you will never hit them even if you get upset over something they did. I then asked what
they thought the punishment should be if they hit again. (Kind of a pick your punishment thing). Covey
dropped his head looking ashamed and said “I don’t know”. Jerrica informed me that she had not been hitting –
This time. Xander, who had stopped crying, looked up at me with big innocent eyes and said “I think we should
talk to the bishop”. It was all I could do to keep from laughing. I have no idea where he got that from.
I thanked him for the suggestion and told him that I didn’t think we’d need to do that and we kept looking for
new ideas.
On Friday this week Brandt and I got to go to the temple and be there
while Caitlin went though for the first time and received her endowment. It was such a wonderful experience!
It is the first time we have all been in the temple together as a family since his sister Rachel got married
several years ago. It is always such a special and neat experience to be able to be in the celestial room
together as a family. There were several times that I had tears of happiness come to my eyes.
On Saturday we had a surprise 60th birthday party for Brandt’s dad.
We all met at Marie’s house at about 2:30pm and Mom and Dad were supposed to come around 3. However Dad was
working in the yard and did not want to come in. It took mom until around a quarter after four to get dad
over to Marie’s house. We then sang a song for him, barbequed some hamburgers, put on some skits, had cake,
and watched the movie “North by Northwest” outside afterwards. It was a lot of fun however it all ended at 10:30pm.
Our kids were so tired they were all asleep before we were even half way home.
The next day on Sunday Jerrica was very tired out after church. We were
out of bread at the house so I made cheese and ham tortillas for lunch. She threw a fit and informed me that she
did not want to eat that. I let her know that that was all she was going to be getting for lunch. She stormed into
her room and said she was going to bed. Within 5 minutes she was sound asleep. I put her lunch in the fridge and
re-heated it for her for dinner that night. Just like lunch she refused to eat it. No matter what we did she would
not take more than a bite (Which she later spit out). Needless to say she was not going to be getting treats that
night when we went to Grandma and Grandpa’s house. However since there was going to be a lot of family there including
cousins who like to help out, I wrote a note on a piece of paper that said “Do NOT Feed me” and safety pinned it to
the front of her dress. Brandt’s sister Christy said that it reminded her of the signs you see that say “Don’t feed
the bears”.
>
Later when we got home and were getting ready for bed Jerrica was saying
her personal prayers. In her prayer she was saying things she was thankful for and then said “Heavenly Father, I
did not eat my lunch today, and I didn’t eat me dinner. Then I got to wear a sign on my chest that said ‘Don’t Feed
The Bears’”. I tried really hard not to laugh right there in the middle of her prayers.
I started off this week by bringing Phoenix into see the doctor on Monday. He was screaming and crying almost the whole
time he was awake. We couldn't figure out what to do to help him stop. Yet at the same time he had no fever, and was
eating and everything just fine. After 2 weeks of crying, and him going back to not sleeping at night I decided to
bring him in. His normal pediatrician was not in the office so I saw a different doctor. Unfortunately (in a way)
the whole time I was at the doctors appointment Phoenix sat there smiling at the doctor (REALLY!?!?!?!). I don't
think the doctor, who had never met me before, believed that my child was so upset all the time. He looked Phoenix
over and said that he thought the reason he was so upset was..... That he had a bad case of cradles cap. I am
serious! He told me to get some Selsun blue to use on his head, and that when it cleared up he should be much
happier. I explained that Phoenix is my fourth child and that some of my other kids had worse cradles cap -
but that was his prognosis.
Brandt is still working extra hours right now, so that night his
mom and dad came over to our house. Brandt's birthday was on Wednesday and his Dad helped me out in building
a workbench for him. He came over to put the bench together, and install some cork board on the wall to hang
things on. While we were in the garage Mom came out with Phoenix, who was crying, and asked if it was time
for him to eat. I told her that I had just fed him and that he wasn't hungry. She than asked what was wrong
(So that she could help calm him down). I looked at her and said "Obviously he has a bad case of cradles cap".
(smile)
On Tuesday I called and talked to the normal pediatrician who called
in a prescription for reflux. I have tried it out for a few days now and it helps out so much!!! He is much
happier, and is full of smiles now.
Jerrica has been thinking about my dad ("Poppy") a lot this week.
My dad passed away 6 years ago - long before she was even born. One night while Jerrica was saying her personal
prayers she had just finished telling Lord what she was thankful for and I asked her if there was anything she
wanted help with. She thought for a minute and said "Yes! ... And please help Poppy, because Jesus Killed him".
I was shocked. I have no idea where she got the idea that Jesus killed my dad. After prayers Brandt and I talked
to her, and explained that Jesus did not kill Poppy. She then went "Oh... Heavenly Father Killed Poppy?" . The
conversation ended with her proudly announcing that "Jesus is Killing Me". I think we will try to explain things
to her when she is a little bit older.
Friday was a WONDERFUL day. It was ward temple night, and I have made
the goal to start going back to the temple every month. I will admit that sadly since I started having kids I
have not gotten to the temple very much. Brandt's parents came over to the house to babysit the kids (I'm not
ready to leave Phoenix very long with someone other than family). It was great to have that time with Brandt,
both in the hour long drive each way, and also in the temple. I have been looking forward to going to the temple
for the last three weeks, and it felt so good to be there. I could feel the spirit so strongly, and it was so
wonderful seeing so many people I knew from church there too.
>
Saturday was a busy day. Brandt was gone in the morning helping paint
some bathrooms at Hulaco (The church camp site). The kids wanted to "go somewhere". I thought about going to the
walking trail, but we always seem to go to the same places. I started to google parks around where we live so that
we could try out somewhere new. I found another greenway about 20 minutes from our house so we went there.
Unfortunately I found out that I could not use the stroller there, so I had Phoenix strapped to me in the baby wrap
- but it was a great trail! It was just us for most of the time, and as we were leaving other people were just
showing up. The kids even got to see some horses because a couple was going riding there. That evening we went
over to the church to help clean.
Also on Friday Brandt helped his nephew do some filming of Parkour for a scholarship
application. Here is the finished video if you want to see:
Sunday evening after church we went over to Brandt's parents house to have
birthday cake and celebrate Brandt's birthday. I love having family so close - and that we all get along!
Monday afternoon last week the kids had a play date with the family
across the street from us. They were all super excited because our neighbors cat had kittens, and they were
going to get to see them. As I started across the street with all the kids, Xander was so excited that he
took off running without watching where he was going. He ran into the driveway, and SMACK into the back
corner of their minivan. He fell backward - flat onto his back - on the pavement. For a second I was
worried that there was going to be a lot of crying because it looked like it hurt, but instead he hopped up,
shook himself off, and kept running for the front door. It was one of the funniest things I have seen.
I couldn't help but laugh.
Last week also started off with our big family home evening.
So much of Brandt's family lives fairly close together, so we are trying to get together one Monday a
month for Family Home Evening. This month we met at his parents house. Grandma gave a great lesson on
stewardship, than afterwards we did a very different activity... We made a Harlem Shake Video. I have
to admit I wasn't very sold on the idea, but it ended up being a lot of fun. Here is the video that you
can watch:
After Family Home Evening was over we went to head home.
Brandt had met me there straight from work so we had both cars. As I backed out of the driveway Brandt
flagged me down and told me that when he pushed the clutch in on his car, that it just dropped to the floor
again. Unfortunately it was not an April Fools joke.... I went back to mom's house Tuesday morning to have
the car towed back to the mechanic. We are so grateful for the friends who have given Brandt rides to and
from work. Also one coworker was unbelievably nice and has let Brandt borrow a vehicle while ours is in the
shop. We have truly been blessed, even though we have had rotten luck.
Phoenix has gotten super fussy. He cries all day long unless he is
being held - and even then sometimes he still cries. Half way through the week I was so tired of the crying,
and not getting much sleep that I called the doctors office. I explained that part of me wanted to bring him
in, but part of me didn't. After all he does not have a fever, he is eating, peeing, and pooping... basically
he seems healthy to me except for the never ending crying. You just don't bring a healthy kids to the doctor
for crying Right??? They asked me a lot of questions, and suggested that he might be getting reflux. For the
est of the week I was to keep him upright for a while after eating, I started to give his some rice cereal, and
to have him sleep at a 30-45 degree angle and see if it helped. While it did help some, I think I am giving up
and bringing him into the doctor. On a bright note, I did finally get Phoenix to smile at me this week!!!
Granted he started to cry afterward, I just focused on his smile the rest of the day.
This weekend was General Conference. I often found myself feeling
frustrated trying to focus, when there is no way we can keep all the kids quiet and reverent the whole time
(all 4 sessions). However I was surprised and happy to find that Covey was listening to one of the talks.
He started asking us questions during it, and we were able to help him understand what that talk was about.
Xander heard one of the speakers talk briefly about baptism and that even Jesus Christ was baptized. He
than started to ask me questions about baptism, and when could he be baptized like Jesus.
>
Later when Elder Richard G. Scott gave his talk I told the kids
that I got to meet him once when he came to visit our stake in Minnesota. Jerrica sat staring at the tv and
then told me that Elder Scott looked like a grandpa. I told her that he was. She than said "I want to hug
him and give him kisses." Too cute!
All in all this has been a great week, and I am so grateful to all
of our family and friends!!!
If I thought life was going to settle down for me after the last time I wrote,
I was wrong. Brandt's Grandpa Horrocks passed away the last week of February. He was an absolutely wonderful man, and
I bet he could make anyone laugh or at the least bring a smile to their face. We got Brandt a plane ticket to go out
to Washington for the funeral. I would have loved to go too, but we just couldn't justify the cost of 2 plane tickets
for such a short trip. Also my mom was coming into town around the same time because we had originally planned on
blessing Phoenix on Sunday March 3rd. The funeral was on March 4th, so we postponed the blessing until the following
week right before my mom went back home to Minnesota. Even though I wasn't there for the funeral I was able to listen
to a recording of the talks that were given. It made me laugh, and also brought tears to my eyes. He will be missed.
The day my mom flew into town Brandt was going to leave from work to
pick her up at the airport. Her flight was delayed, so he worked extra long that day. At the time her flight
was supposed to be landing Brandt called me at the house and told me to load the kids in the car and go to the
airport because his car was broken. The clutch was not working... The pedal would just go to the floor and
stay there. The problem is, that since he works on the arsenal, I can't just drive out and pick him up since
it is a restricted base. Luckily someone working at another building saw Brandt and offered to give Brandt
a ride to the airport. On the way there Brandt found out that this nice man lives in a city 20 minutes in
the opposite direction. We are so grateful for that sweet guy that helped Brandt and me out. We ended up
having to have the car towed off the Arsenal after Brandt got back in town.
It was nice having my mom here to help out while Brandt was
out of town. I think I probably would have pulled my hair out otherwise.I am still trying to get used to
having four kids. Don't get me wrong, it isn't bad having four kids, I am just trying to get into a new
routine and schedule. Of course that isn't easy when you have a newborn that changes his schedule often.
(smile) While my mom was here we spent a lot of time talking, and watching movies. I introduced her
to most of the Avenger and Sherlock Holmes movies. My mom sewed the blessing outfit for Phoenix, just
like she did for all of my kids. On Saturday before she left we went as a family out to the walking
trail and took some pictures. We brought along a picnic snack and had an enjoyable time.
On Sunday March 10th Brandt blessed Phoenix in Church.
After church was over we went over to the duck pond to have a picnic lunch before driving my mom
to the airport. That night Covey started a 103 degree fever and missed the next couple days of
school.
On Monday after my mom left, I noticed some bugs in my kitchen sink
that looked like flying ants. Then while I was making breakfast I noticed some dirt hanging down from the counter
top that runs behind the sink. I got out a flashlight and saw that we had bugs crawling in our wall. I called
Brandt at work and told him that I was sure we had termites. We looked up businesses off of the BBB website and
I spent the next two days having companies come out and give me estimates on termite treatment. That alone was
tiring, but on Tuesday I had the first "swarm of termites". I guess at certain times the reproductive termites
get pushed out of the nest to go and find ground to reproduce in and start a new colony. I had a couple hundred
termites come out of the wall and drop into the sink, crawl across the floor, and fly. It grossed me out but
I handled it ok. They die pretty quick, so I got out the vacuum and cleaned them up.
>
On Wednesday I had scheduled for the company we chose to use to come
by and start treatment at 3pm. Around noon Jerrica came up to me freaking out and putting her shoes on.
She kept talking about bugs. I figured that since they had already swarmed that I must have missed a bug or
two cleaning up. I was wrong. She pulled me out into the music room and as I got there I noticed that my
floor was speckled with them. I then walked into the kitchen to see them all over the floor, and literally
pouring out of my wall. The swarm was so much bigger than the day before. That just finished me off.
I had had all I could handle between broken cars, sick kids, lack of sleep, and now tons of bugs all over
my house. I called Brandt and just cried over the phone. After talking to him and a nice friend I pulled
myself together and started to vacuum up the bugs again. I think I vacuumed at least 3 times that day
(including the kitchen floor). That afternoon the company came and put a treatment in the wall and I did
not see another swarm.
On Thursday I called the auto mechanic about our car. I was having
a much better day. The sun was back outside, and I was in a positive mood. As I talked to the mechanic I
found out that our clutch was actually going to be an easy fix. However he found that our timing belt was
extremely cracked and brittle. In fact he said that he had never seen one in such bad condition that hadn't
broken. He said that someone (meaning the Lord) must have been watching out for us because we would have been
in much worse condition if it had broken.
After talking to him I began to realize that even though I had fallen
apart the day before and fallen into self pity because of all the things that seem to be happening around the
same time, that the Lord has really blessed us a lot. I gave birth to a wonderful little boy, who is now healthy.
Our car broke down with a problem that could have been bad, but wasn't, and it led us to preventing a much bigger
problem. Our house does have termites, and while that is not a good thing, Brandt is now has an opportunity
to make a little extra money at work that will help offset some of these added expenses so that we will be able
to take care of the problem. I am so grateful for the Lord, and for how much he watches out for us. It almost
makes me cry thinking of all the ways he has protected me and my family, or watched out for us through the years.
Things have been so crazy lately that I have not sat down to write in my journal.
I often find myself at night, or when I am sitting and feeding the baby mentally thinking over all the things that I want
to record so I won't forget. Sadly I know there are things that I have already forgotten that won't make it into this
record. Well Lets start with my pregnancy. I was very miserable toward the end of my pregnancy. I kept telling the
doctor that I was worried about having a very large baby since Jerrica was 9lbs, and I was so much more uncomfortable
with this pregnancy. He told me not to worry. Unfortunately he could not induce me until I was 39 weeks along due to new
regulations. (On past pregnancies he was able to induce me at 38 weeks if I wanted it) I scheduled to be induced on
February 6th. Waiting until then was horrible. My back was killing me because of all the added pull of the baby,
and when the baby would move I could just feel my back go "Snap crackle, pop". The baby also had fun pushing on my
nerves and making my legs give out from under me without any warning. It got to the point that I was praying daily
that I would go into labor. I had yet another ultrasound and was told that that they were 85% sure that we were going
to have a baby girl.
On Wednesday January 30th, my prayers were answered. That afternoon I woke
up from a nap with sharp short contraction pains. I figured they were just Braxton hicks because they weren't super
intense even though it woke me up. After about an hour of them I called my friend Charsty to ask her what it was like
for her when she goes into labor (I had never gone into labor naturally before). She listened to what I was describing
and said that it sounded like the beginning of labor to her. After another hour or so I called my OB's office and was
told to go into the hospital. Brandt was still at work, so I loaded up the kids (Covey grabbing everyone's pajamas) and
drove them over to Grandma and Grandpa Horrocks House. Brandt met me at the hospital. When i got there the nurse checked
me and I was dilated to 4 cm. The doctor had me stay there for an hour to see if I progressed at all in my labor.
Unfortunately my contractions stopped! We ended up going and picking the kids up and going home to tuck them into bed.
After bedtime I curled up on the couch and we started to watch tv together. The contractions started up again and got
much more intense. I had to sit and breath through them. We called and Grandma Horrocks drove over to the house at 11pm
to stay with the kids while we went back to the hospital. I was only dilated another half a cm, but the doctor wanted to
watch me overnight. By the next morning I was a little past 5cm, and the contractions were going strong. I was officially
admitted to the hospital and they started to give me fluids to help keep the baby's heart rate up.
I get epidurals when I am in labor because of the added pain in my back due to
my injury. This time the epidural was pretty easy, but my blood pressure really dropped after I got it. I looked at
Brandt and the nurses and said that my chest felt heavy, and that I was dizzy. They rolled me on my side and had to
give me a couple doses of medicine, and oxygen to help me out.
I was ready to push a little after 9am and when Dr. Tallent got there the
baby was basically coming out all by itself. He even had to hold the head a minute with an ungloved hand while
getting a glove on the other. The baby came quickly and easily after that. However to everyone's surprise we
had a baby boy! Baby Phoenix was born at 9:30am on January 31st (2 weeks before his due date) and weighed 9lbs
7 oz.
Grandma Barb changed around her work schedule to drive down and help out with
the kids. I got to come home from the hospital on Saturday, unfortunately on Sunday I ended up bringing Phoenix back
to the hospital. It looked like he had blood in his urine, and he seemed a little bit warm. My forehead thermometer
said that he was just over 100 degrees. I called the pediatrician, and he said I should get him checked out at the
hospital. Brandt and I both thought it would be a short trip and that I would get sent back home, but once I got
there Phoenix's fever was up to 101.2 degrees. He was admitted to the hospital and put through a round of testing
that included: x-rays, blood work, and a spinal tap to make sure he hadn't gotten meningitis. He then got to stay
at the hospital until Tuesday afternoon. That was long and miserable on all of us. The kids missed having me at
home. I missed being home to recover from having a baby, instead of sleeping on an uncomfortable couch in a
hospital room, and baby Phoenix was not happy being hooked up to an IV and things either. Luckily his fever
went away and we were able to go home. All of the testing came back clear so they believe it was a virus that
he had. Luckily Barb was able to change her schedule again so that she was able to stay longer and watch the
kids while Brandt worked and I was at the hospital. It meant a lot!
The kids absolutely love their little brother. Covey is the cutest I think.
Everyday when he gets home from school he has to go and sit by Phoenix for a little while. He gets excited every
time Phoenix starts to open his eyes. More than one I have heard him exclaim "Phoenix is looking at me Mommy!
I can see myself in his eyes!" One morning Covey got up before it was time to get ready for school. He came
into my room and asked if we were late getting ready. I told him no. He than asked if he could look at Phoenix
a minute (Phoenix was nursing at the time). I told him ok. Covey than sat there and quietly talked to Phoenix
saying "I'm going to be going bye bye in a little bit, but I won't be gone long. I am just going to go to school,
and then I will be back home with you. I need to go to bed now Phoenix I love you." He then kissed Phoenix's
forehead and went back to bed. A few days later Covey was walking out of the room and turned back to me saying
"Mommy, when I think of Phoenix it makes me want to be a Daddy when I get older". I sure love that boy!
Jerrica loves Phoenix, but I think she is not liking having less attention.
She has been acting up more around the house and has be completely worn out, and out of patience by the end of the day.
She always want to help take care of Phoenix and be a little mommy to him, but does not seem to understand that she can
not pick him up. I have caught her many times trying to pick him up when he is crying etc. She is really good however
at giving him his pacifier, and also going to get diapers for me. I am going to try and set aside a little bit of one
on one time with her over the next few days and see if it helps things out a bit.
I started off this week by bringing Phoenix into see the doctor on Monday. He was screaming and crying almost the whole
time he was awake. We couldn't figure out what to do to help him stop. Yet at the same time he had no fever, and was
eating and everything just fine. After 2 weeks of crying, and him going back to not sleeping at night I decided to
bring him in. His normal pediatrician was not in the office so I saw a different doctor. Unfortunately (in a way)
the whole time I was at the doctors appointment Phoenix sat there smiling at the doctor (REALLY!?!?!?!). I don't
think the doctor, who had never met me before, believed that my child was so upset all the time. He looked Phoenix
over and said that he thought the reason he was so upset was..... That he had a bad case of cradles cap. I am
serious! He told me to get some Selsun blue to use on his head, and that when it cleared up he should be much
happier. I explained that Phoenix is my fourth child and that some of my other kids had worse cradles cap -
but that was his prognosis.
