Easter

Oh holidays are so much fun with kids! The kids were so excited for Easter. Hayden especially was excited. He was counting down the days the entire week waiting for Easter to arrive. We focused on the real reason we celebrate Easter on Family Night and throughout the week,but this didn't keep the kids from being excited for and anticipating the arrival of the Easter Bunny. On Easter morning I was awakened by Hayden who came to the side of my bed and whispered, "Mom. I saw something downstairs."
"What did you see Hayden?"
Still in a whisper, "I saw lots of eggs. I don't know who put them there, but I think Drew must have set them up."

"I don't know Hayden. Is Drew still asleep in his bed? I don't think it was him . . . Let's go wake him and Ada up and go check it out."So we woke up the other two and headed downstairs, and for sure they all agreed that the Easter Bunny had been there. They were so cute as they gathered up their eggs.

Hayden got so excited and he yelled out, "I'm so excited! The Easter Bunny came and Jesus died for us!" And he said it just like that all in the same breath. It was pretty funny.

They were trying to help eachother find all the eggs and Drew came up with a plan he said, "Hayden . . . you look up high and I'll look down low." Hayden then immediately looked straight up at the ceiling and started walking around. It was hilarious. I don't think he found many eggs "up high" but they managed to find them all and it was so fun to watch.

We had a lovely day at church and then the Barksdale clan came over for an Easter egg hunt and some food. It was fun. I like our family!!

Garbage Bag Hoarder

There is a difference between a "cluttery" house and a "dirty" house. The other day my neighbor came over when my front room was decorated nicely with children's toys. I of course started apologizing for it, but I made the comment that my house was cluttery but at least it wasn't "dirty" like sanitarily unsafe or anything like that.

We talked about the show on television called "Hoarders" where professionals go into the homes of these people who just hoard all sorts of things. Some of these homes are pretty scary and a bit disgusting. So man, at least my house isn't like that eh? How fortunate that I don't have that problem!!!

So this last week I decided that I would try and clean out and rearrange some of my kitchen cupboards. I looked in the cupboard that I keep my cleaning supplies and used plastic grocery bags, that I have saved to use as garbage liners, in. I thought, "I think I could probably throw away some of these." So I started pulling them out and . . . it was quite astounding. I think that I must have had garbage bags that dated back to 2008 in there. By the time I finally got all of the bags out of the cupboard the pile was about 4 feet wide and went up to my waist. Wow!

I am a hourder after all. I have been in denial all of this time of my garbage bag saving obsession. But I am happy to say that I have come clean. I admit it was a problem and am happy to say that I am recovering. I have a very reasonable sized brown sack behind my garbage can now that I plan on putting my bags in and I won't allow myself to keep more bags than can fit in that sack! So feel free to check up on me with that one, and make sure I'm sticking to it! :)

Fighting over Ada

So right now the kids are fighting . . . not an unusual occurence. But I find the context pretty funny. Usually the boys are trying to get Ada to get lost and leave them alone, but right now they are both trying to convince Ada to play with them. Drew wants Ada to play Star Wars and be Princess Leah, and Hayden wants her to to play Super Hayden with him. Here was Drew's convincing argument: "Ada? Do you want to play Star Wars? You can be PRINCESS Leah!" Pretty good Drew . . . appeal to the princess in her . . . Unfortunately it didn't work. So then Drew says, "Ada! Princes Leah is really Rich! . . . Do you want to be Princess Leah and be really rich?" . . . Not bad . . . but Ada wasn't too interested. Drew told us yesterday that he knew what he was going to be when he grew up. We asked him what that was and he said, "When I grow up, I am going to ge a King!" He then went on to say that "If I were a King I would be rich and I could do whatever I wanted." We tried to explain to him that if he were a King he would have all sorts of responsibilities and he would have to lead a country and make all sorts of hard decisions . . . etc. To which he responded, "Ya . . ., I'll still be a king." We started laughing at that. So that is where the appeal to riches originated from. The last one was the best though. "Ada! Princess Leah has a gun!" . . . He totally lost her on that one. Funny kids. Super Hayden won this battle.

Clarifications

I thought I had better make a couple clarifications for anyone who might be deceived by the finer details in the story below!
1. Never in the existence of my home ownership have I ever had . . . and I really mean ever had . . . a spotless house. I'm sure that anyone who reads my blog might already know that . . . but just in case I have led anyone astray on that point I thought I better make that one clear.
2. In case my account leads anyone to believe that I never get a break from Ada's talking . . . that is not so much true either. I happen to live next to three girls who are believe it or not half human and half angel. It's pretty amazing really. But these girls ages 9, 11, and 13, actually come knock on my door a couple times a week and ask if they can play with my children! Could there be anything more lovely than that? They are wonderful. I seriously want to adopt them except for the fact that they already have one of the most amazing women on the planet as their mother. They take the kids outside and play superheroes and ride scooters and all sorts of things. When we were planning Hayden's birthday party we asked him who he wanted to invite to his party and he replied, "Megan, Jenna, Brittney . . . and Sister Hahn." That was his list . . . and those are the neighbors. Needless to say, we love those guys.

Mom, could you be done?

So the craziest thing has happened since I have had Tilson. I don't know how it happened, it is weird, but somehow Ada and I have become attached at the hip. It is as if I have inherited a siamese twin. Ada does not leave my side from morning until night. And if you are thinking, "Oh, how cute!" It is true . . . it can be very fun to have a little three year old with big eyes and who loves to talk around me all day long. But on the other hand I have a three year old who LOVES TO TALK around me ALL DAY LONG!! I have to admit there have been a few times that I have excitedly told Ada at the end of the day, "Ada . . . it's time for bed! Let's go get your pajamas on! :)" I'm not mean . . . I love my little princess Ada . . . but after a whole day of listening to her sometimes screechy and often loud voice . . . it can get a bit tiring! And it doesn't help when anytime I try to divide my attention and talk to someone else in the room Ada starts interrupting saying, "Mommy . . . Mommy? . . . Mommy . . . Mommy?. . . Mommy!!!!!" Unable to finish the conversation I am having I will turn to Ada and say, "What Ada? I am trying to talk to Grandma (or whoever I am talking to) and then she will say, "Um . . . (at this point there is a long pause) and she will think of something to tell me.

So one day as I was nursing Tilson and talking to my sister on the phone, Ada came over and started climbing all over me and started talking talking talking. I turned to Ada and I said, "Ada don't you want to go play with your toys? Why do you want to be by Mommy all day long?" I wasn't really expecting her to answer the question, but she turned to me and said, "Because . . . I love you Mommy!" I found it hard to be upset with my cute little big eyed talker at that point.

I think that it is obvious that Ada wants my attention. I know it has got to be hard to have to share the spotlight with a new baby. She has been wonderful with the baby though. She never tries to hurt him. She loves him, and helps me ALL DAY LONG to take care of him. She loves to kiss him, and talk to him and go get diapers and wipes for him if I ask her to. And her favorite thing to do is attempt to stick the binky in his mouth. But I think that she does notice a change.

I have found the transition quite easy with a new baby, but life can get a little busy trying to fit in cleaning, cooking, driving kids to school and back, grocery shopping, helping with homework and piano, getting kids to do chores, laundry . . . etc. all in between feedings every two hours. One day I had gotten Tilson to sleep finally and was trying to get things done in the house and Ada came up to me, "Mommy, can you come outside and watch me?" I was in the middle of something and said, "Yes Ada . . . I can watch you in just a few minutes." It was taking a little longer than a few minutes to accomplish what I was doing and I sort of got absorbed in the task . . . pretty soon Ada came back up to me and she said, "Mom . . . could you be done?"

That little request really struck me. "Mom, could you be done?" It wasn't, "Mom are you done?" or "Mom, when are you going to be done?" She obviously realized that I wasn't finished yet and I wasn't going to be finished anytime soon and that she just might miss out on going outside unless I dropped what I was doing. So that little request of, "Mom, could you be done" was an awakening moment for me. I was trying to take advantage of every moment that Tilson was sleeping to tackle all the things I needed to do around the house when the most important thing at that moment was going outside and watching my three year old do tricks on the slide. Laundry and Dishes could wait . . .

So just in case anyone comes to my house in the near future . . . I hope you find my house a little messy! Because right now with this new little guy and with Lamon working like 45 + hours a week, I really can't keep a spotless house and get everything done on my lists of things to do! It's just impossible. And I don't need to. Loving these little kids and loving this new little baby are what's most important right now. I hope I can choose to "Be Done" a lot more. I sure do love these little people in our family! I am one lucky girl.

Crazy Tough Kids

Usually at night when the kids get in their beds after prayers, it seems to be a time for reflection on their part. The kids seem to take turns yelling, "Mom!" and then they tell me something they want me to remember for the following day, or they want to complain about something I forgot to do that day or basically whatever they can think of that would be important enough to address in order to not have to go to sleep quite yet. Ada for example for about a month would call out for me and ask me with her cute stuttering voice, "Mom? Tomorrow we are going to have breakfast and then Ramen . . . okay? Is that a good idea?" To which I would say, "Okay Ada." But if I say anything besides yes or no she will instinctively respond, "Did you say yes?" "Yes Ada." Then she would immediately lay her head down and go to sleep content . . . probably dreaming about eating Ramen no doubt. . . Funny girl. It was the same thing every night.

Tonight it was Hayden who was calling out my name. Only he had a complaint.

"Mom!"

"What?" I answered.

"When are we going to go to the Dentist?" he asked me demandingly.

"Hayden, we don't need to go to the Dentist for a while."

"But what about my cavities?"Hayden pleaded.

"Hayden, you don't have any cavities. We just went to the Dentist."

Then Hayden starts whimpering and says,"You're never going to take me to get shots! When are you going to take me to get shots?" He is absolutely distraught about this.

Drew then pipes in, "When do I get to have shots again?"

"Um . . . you just had shots this last year Drew . . . "

I then promised Hayden that we would go and get shots tomorrow (He needs them for Kindergarten). And he is one happy boy!

It's not like they don't know what they are in for. They all went in for shots this last year and none of them cried . . . It's pretty much a weird phenomenon. They pretty much love going to the doctor and the dentist's office is pretty much their favorite place to go.

I love my kids!!!! They are cool!

Tilson Glen Mack is Born!! (The Whole Story)

Pregnancy

A few days before I delivered Tilson me and Liz and our sister-in-law Ariel were discussing the discomforts of pregnancy. Liz mentioned that she thought that her first pregnancy was by far the easiest. She wondered if maybe pregnancy pains became worse or more noticeable with each pregnancy. And although I am a little weird and actually think it is fun to be pregnant once you get past the 13th week or so, I won't say that there are no discomforts involved. That would be silly. But I'll tell ya . . . if there has ever been a pregnancy that was "easy" for me, it would have to be this one. I pretty much felt superb throughout the entire pregnancy.

I had a goal this time around to keep running until the very end. I decided that I wanted to be able to run two miles a few times a week until I delivered no matter how slow that two miles ended up being. And I did it. I ran two miles the night before I went into labor. And although it was pretty slow . . . I still finished the two miles in 23 minutes which for 9 months pregnant isn't too shabby I think. I can't say for sure, but I think that the running might be the real reason I didn't have as many pregnancy discomforts as with the rest of the kids. I honestly felt like if I went two weeks over my due date, I would have been totally fine. And for anyone who has been pregnant . . . that is pretty much weird. The last month is the worst. So I plan on running throughout the rest of my pregnancies if I'm able.

Labor
The pregnancy wasn't the only easy part though. The labor went pretty easy too! On my Tuesday appointment my doctor suggested that if I didn't go into labor on my own that I come in before the week was through and they would break my water in order to start labor. He said that with VBAC's they don't really like to have you go over your due date if they can help it. So we scheduled for me to have my water broken on Friday the 4th, but I wanted soooo badly to go into labor on my own. I just think that going into labor is one of the most exciting things ever. I didn't get to go into labor spontaneously with Ada since she was breech and was taken by c-section, so I was really anxious to be able to have that experience again with this baby. And luckily enough I was able to.

On Wednesday morning around 8 I had a "real" contraction! Wahoo! And ouch. I was excited. I was like "Lamon, I just had a real contraction!" He was on his way to take Drew to school and by the time he got back I had had 2 more. "This might be it honey. I will keep you posted." So then Lamon went off to work. I got a little notebook out and started timing the contractions which were coming about 13 minutes apart. I had Liz come over just in case I needed to go to the hospital. In between each c0ntraction I packed mine and the kids bags, did some laundry, straightened my hair, did my makeup, played with the kids . . . and when I would have a contraction I would stop and breathe through it and then saying something like,"yep, that hurt" and then I would write it down. They started getting closer (about 7 min)and I told Liz that we should get the car seats in the car. I didn't want to get to the hospital dialated to an 8+ and irritated with anyone who attempted to talk to me like I did with Hayden. I wanted to get there early while I was still pleasant. And since my doctors pretty much required me to have an epidural (I asked them if I could have it placed but not have the drugs put in it and they politely said "no way" they want their VBACS drugged) I decided I may as well get there early and enjoy it! I was hoping to go natural purely out of curiosity and the fact that I just think I could do it. But hey if I had to have one, I wanted to enjoy it as long as possible. So we loaded the kids and headed down. Liz was like, "Mary . . . you don't look like I do when I am in labor. You are way to calm." And I told her that I was sure I was in the beginning stages of labor, but would probably get there and be to like a 4 and then they would monitor me for about an hour or so to make sure that I was in fact in labor and then admit me. Then a little while later I would get an epidural etc etc. That seems to be the protocal. So I wrote down the last contraction noted on my notebook when I got to the hospital. My notebook looks like this:

8:34

8:47

8:55

9:10

9:23

9:32

9:44

9:58

1o:15

10:25

10:32

10:44

10:49

10:57

11:05

11:12

11:19

11:27

11:33

And then Lamon and I walked into the labor and delivery with me not looking like a typical laboring woman. They took me to a room and the nurse had me undress and put a gown on and started asking me questions, and basically told me that they were going to do exactly what I told Liz they would do . . . monitor me and see if anything was happening. The contractions weren't really close together at that point so in an hour she would see if I was progressing. She asked me what I was dialated to before, and I told her that at my appointment the day before I was a 3 and 80% effaced. So she checked me and then she said, "Well, I don't think that we will wait an hour to admit you. You are dialated to a 6 and fully effaced." She said that she wasn't quite expecting that and then they started hurrying and preparing the room and getting me all prepped with an IV etc. and sent for the Anesteisiologist.

A little while later the Anesteisiologist came in and gave me the blessed shot, and we began calling and texting family to let them know it was happening. A little while later they checked me and I was an 8. They got the doctor and he broke my water, and shortly after that he came back and said, "Are you ready to have a baby?"

Birth
He had me push twice and out the baby came. He said, "What did you think the baby was mom?" And he lifted the baby up high in the air and . . . there HE was. It was a boy just like I thought he would be. I got to watch Lamon cut the cord and of course had all of those emotions come over me that you do when you have a baby. I loved that little guy immediately and couldn't wipe the smile off my face. I was pretty much sitting there thinking to myself, "Is there anything comparable to the joyous feeling you feel when you see your baby for the first time?" They took the baby over to wash him and weigh him and then the scariest thing happened. It seemed to last a million years. The doctor was stitching me up and I was looking over to see if I could see them take care of the baby and all of a sudden I couldn't hear him. He wasn't making any noise. He wasn't crying and a bunch of people started rushing into the room. The doctor stitched me up silently while all of this commotion was happening, and all I needed to see was the look in my twin sister and Lamon's faces to know that something wasn't right. When they had taken Tilson over to wash him he just st0pped breathing. Liz and Lamon said that he was blue as a blueberry and they pressed the code button and people rushed in and they bagged him for 5 minutes and then he started to cry and it was the most joyous sound I have ever heard. Those five minutes seemed to last a lifetime and I was just praying my guts out that everything would be okay. I don't know that I have ever been more nervous in my entire life! I was terrified and pretty much stopped breathing myself until I heard my little guy cry. They put him on my chest for a moment, but then they took him up to the NICU to put him on a CPAP? It was very weird and pretty hard to sit there for so long without a baby in my arms. They did take me up on the bed they were transferring me to my room on so that I could see the baby. The whole time I was wondering what was going on and if my little baby was okay. By evening they sent him down though and I was so happy! Now I could just enjoy my little guy. Liz was there for the whole delivery, My Mom and Dad started coming up from St. George as soon as they heard I was in labor and got here right after I delivered, and Lamon's parents came and visited as well. Karyn and Liz were my angels who babysat the kids during it all, and I am soooo thankful for their help.

As if that whole ordeal wasn't enough . . . that night at the hospital they had a convict escape from the ER and they had the hospital on lock down for a little while. It was quite the news story, and we were here! We heard that he was hiding out in the ceiling somewhere so Lamon was planning out how he would deal with him if he came out in our room! :) He escaped and they found him in Salt Lake City the next morning.

I thought my worries were over after that first night, but the following day they took Tilson to have him assessed by the doctor, and the doctor came in and told me that he was concerned about his breathing and wanted to take him up to the NICU again and do some chest x-rays and a bunch of blood work. I kept nodding and saying, "okay" . . ."uh huh" . . . "okay" But as soon as he walked out the door I burst into tears. You just never want to have anything wrong with your baby, and I thought Tilson was in the clear after that first day. So back up to the NICU he went for the rest of Thursday. Everything looked good though except for one little problem with a blood test. So they put him on antobiotics and the doctor said that he wanted to keep him in the hospital for an extra day so that they could finish antibiotics and wait for test results. So on Friday I had to go home without a baby, and it was extremely unpleasant. I had a new appreciation and empathy for mothers who have something go wrong with their babies. I at least was confident that everything would be alright.

It's now been three weeks and besides having to deal with Jaundice and deal with all the heel pokes and having him on the lights for a couple days . . . he is now healthy and alert and as cute as can be! What a sweet little angel he is! He sucks on a binky, which is a first for one of our babies; and he has been sleeping at night for 6 and sometimes 7 hours at a time!! Could life get any better?! I love our new little Tilson!

For the Books . . . Tilson was born on February 2nd at 2:32 in the afternoon. He weighed 7 lbs 7oz and was 20 inches long. He was born with a bunch of dark hair (which sadly is already coming out!)