The happenings at the Holmes'

Since I last blogged, before the February rant about mom brain, Haley has turned one, Jason's dad now resides in Heaven, I've turned a year older, we are expecting another kid, Christmas 2010, Thanksgiving 2010, I started an adjunct position at CBU, we shaved Wyatt's head, and many other things.  But more importantly, I have many awesome pictures of my family. 

At the end of November, my mom, Mary, Emily Rickard, and myself made an advent calendar.  It was way too much fun and they turned out awesome.  We used one of Wyatt's cars as the date marker. 

Christmas 2010 was fantastic because Wyatt just kept saying "presents".  He liked to pass them out, to open them, and to shake them.  We really tried to use every opportunity possible to bring u pthe name Jesus and what Christmas is all about.  Pretty soon he was seeing any baby and calling it "baby Jesus".  It was too much fun to wake up Christmas morning and enjoy the time with my family opening (I mean having Wyatt open) gifts. 

 

 



Winner of best gift!



 So Haley has turned ONE.  I kind of snuck up on us because it is 4 days after Christmas.  We had all the Christmas stuff put away by that day.  She'll appreciate that effort sooner or later.  She was awesome with the cake.  I was holding her standing up on my legs with the cake in front of me.  She just dove in with her hands and brought them straight to her mouth.  Pretty stinking funny. 

At one point in December we put up a doorway bouncer.  Wyatt begged to get in, so we put him in.  Oh, goodness, do we have amazing pictures and a video or him just bouncing away.  There will be pictures, but as for the video, I have been sworn not to share it with the public.  Sorry!

Jason's dad has been very ill for about a year and in February he passed on to be with Jesus probably sharing all about plants and bamboo, and palm trees to anyone who will listen.  Ron will be deeply missed by myself.  The main thing about Ron that I want to pass on to my kids is that he was a servant to everyone.  He constantly wanted to ensure that everyone around him had sufficient food, drink, entertainment, enjoyment, and anything else. 

Haley is crawling with on her knees and hands finally. She has spent many weeks army crawling all over the house. She will still drop down quite often and just take off because she is amazingly fast on her belly pushing with her feet and pulling with her elbows. She is pulling to standing much faster now and around everything. She is almost starting to purposefully sit from the standing position. Pretty fun to watch her blossom in her gross motor skills.

Wyatt has spent about 6 months with a speech therapist and she, Michelle, has done wonders. Wyatt is articulate and really says some hilarious things.  I know that young kids say funny things, but it was taking Wyatt forever to get there. Now, some of the things he says I just hope that I'm the only one around because his dad is really teaching him some funny words. Wyatt is also in the process of potty training/learning. He has taken to it very well and is only in diapers for the night. Way to go parents!

 I had a birthday, but that's no big deal anymore. I did get to go get myself a new pair of shoes. They're black dress shoes with a ruffle on the top near the toe.

We are expecting another kid!!!!!! Jason and I are super excited. The thought of only having two kids, a boy and a girl, was just to wearing on us. We felt the need for at least one more. Of course if it was our timeing this might not have happened for a few more months or years. But, in August we will be bringing home a new kid. People keep asking how I feel about having another kid after what we have been through. I am so completely content in whatever is going to happen that it is awesome. After Wyatt I didn't want another kid because of everything. Then along came Haley. We were sure nothing unexpected would happen so we really didn't plan on being in the same position as with Wyatt, a 15 week early baby. But as every nurse and Dr said, "girls almost always do significantly better when born early." Well, after early baby number 2 we just couldn't stand the thought of another baby born early so we considered some drastic action. But, no insurance so no drastic action. Then it began to wear on us that we didn't feel complete. So here we are. Don't know gender yet, but will find out soon enough.

 Just some random pictures that are too cute! They are way out of order and I don't want to take anymore time to try to organize them.  Enjoy.

  

 

 

    

Where is it?

So I need to find something for my sister and I have no idea where it is.  As a mom, I now can claim mom brain.  Claiming mom brain has both positives and negatives.  A positive: it is a real thing and it truly has messed up my ability to find things, remember things, or whatever.  The negaitve: do I really want to feel that I'm no longer in control of my memory?  UGH!

A Party for Haley

Haley is able to spend more time lying about without much more then, well anything really.  She has finally turned a corner and is able to just be without me having to hold her.  It is fantastic.  I spent this morning with the youth from my church washing cars to raise money for camp.  I got to drive an F250 and an F150.  It was pretty fun.  Oh, and a BMW, my favorite car, and a Lexus 350.  Wow.  Anyways, this afternoon my friends from college hosted a shower for Haley.  Amy Miller asked so long ago if she could be the one to host a shower for my baby because Michelle Clark, who usually is the hostess because she loves it, moved to Sacramento.  It was really nice not playing any games, but what they planned instead was to design some onesies for Haley.  There were different types of fabric and markers.  It was awesome.  Thanks Amy, Michelle, Toni, and Holly for planning such a fun event.

Two Years Old

Wyatt's second birthday snuck up on me.  He is now two, as of 6/7/10.  I couldn't believe it.  I think back to the day he was born and can remember the pain.  Today My friends hosted a baby shower for Haley.  We spent some time thinking about the day Wyatt was born.  (Wrong child, I know.)  But Marilla pretty much called me a liar, "you're kidding me, right?"  I called Michelle Clark first and little more than 20 minutes she was up in the room just laughing at the absurdity of the whole situation. 

Well, we had a family dinner at my parents house.  I frosted the cake and needed a place to put it where their dog, Turbo, wouldn't jump up on the table and devour it (like he's done before!).  Well, Wyatt got up on the bench and started handing Ally, his 18 month old cousin, onions.  When I took them away he found the next best thing, the cake.  He grabbed, and it was like slow motion to me, the cake and left a huge gaping hole in the side. 

Wyatt's play therapist (Sue) has been working with him to be able to blow out his candles.  And we placed the cake before him, sang happy birthday (like he understood!) and let him blow out the candles.  Well, Ally was also on the chair, so they both got to blow out the candles.  Thanks Sue for being so diligent to get Wyatt to learn so much!

My camera is somewhere in the mess of a house of mine.  Once the birthday pictures are on the computer, I will share the hand in the cake and the blowing out the candles. 

The only person missing from the party was Jane.  I miss you so much. I know you are where God intends you to be and I look to you as an inspiration for following the Will of God for your life.  Love you so much!

Laughter

I am honored to watch my niece, Ally, once a week, every Thursday. She is absolutely the most awesome niece that I have (even if she is the only one I have!). This week I was able to watch her twice. On Tuesday Wyatt and Ally were their usual selves going in and out of the house, tracking in sticks and dirt, carrying out the toys, playing with the dog food, dumping the dog water, dragging the hose all over, and much more. About 20 minutes before their nap time I hear Wyatt laugh. Not just any laugh but a belly laugh. I wanted to see what they were up to because it really couldn't have been any good. I took a peek out the kitchen window and what do I see? Ally dropping handfuls of dirt onto Wyatt's leg. I know Wyatt started it because he loves dirt, as most kids do. Ally learned quickly and joined in the fun. Obviously the kids were a mess come nap time. So why didn't I stop them? Because they were having so much fun. I hope to never stop their fun even if it means more of a mess for me to clean. The laughter is always worth it!

Picking up the dirt

Dropping the dirt

How life gets in the way

Life. It's busy. It never stops. I have spent this last year reading many blogs and knowing that mine was waiting for me to return. I just couldn't bring myself to sign on and write more. Who knows why. But this last year has been hard. Jason and I have already overcome so much that when more was heaped on the plate we just didn't understand how we could endure it. But we did; we endured another pregnancy, early birth, hospital visits, loss of jobs, insurance nightmares, sickness of loved ones.

God blessed us with another child, a girl we named Haley Jane. Christmas Eve 2009 I found myself 25.2 weeks pregnant and in the hospital. Once I passed 25 weeks I thought I was going to make it to 40 weeks, but alas, three days later into the hospital I went. I began feeling contractions and all through the Christmas Eve service I was trying to talk myself out of them. We got to my parents house, where we planned on spending the night with my sisters and their families, and I pulled my mom aside. Away Jason and I went to the hospital to be monitored. Jason, my mom and I spent 5 days in the hospital, and on one of those very uncomfortable Labor and Delivery beds might I add. The doctors tried 4 different medications to stop the contractions. The final one was a pill that tasted like barf. But to no avail did the drugs stop the contractions. On Tuesday Dec 29 the doctor decided to do a c-section because she was worried about a placental abruption. And sure enough, the placenta had ripped.

On Monday morning my doctor was on call and he came in to talk to us. He said some women in my circumstance can last weeks on bed rest. I did not find this comforting and finally cried for the first time. I prayed so hard that day and night for the courage and patience to last a few more weeks on bed rest. As every doctor didn't fail to tell me, "You don't want the baby to come this early." I think I knew this having gone through a premature birth before. I woke up Tuesday morning ready to be in bed for weeks, even two more months, to give our daughter more time to grow and mature. My breakfast of liquid came. (I was put on a liquid diet: broth, juice, tea, and Italian ice.) After drinking my breakfast, I gushed some blood. The doctor didn't like this, and neither did I.

I met the anesthesiologist, Dr. Reed, and was wheeled off to have my baby. Having a c-section is a bit surreal and I didn't like it at all. I was breathing very deeply so I wouldn't burst into tears because I knew what my life was going to be for the long months ahead; pumping, buying milk bags, visiting the hospital, washing for 3 minutes causing very dry hands, and a roller coaster of emotions as we watched Haley struggle to grow bigger and survive this harsh world too early. With Jason by my side, we heard Haley cry for the first time and even score an 8 on the apgar test. She was wrapped in saran wrap to help keep the moisture in as she was taken to the NICU. She was 13 inches and 1 lb 15 ozs, the same as Wyatt. Jason followed Haley and the doctors and I spent the next lonely hour in recovery watching the monitors beep through my heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing.

Jason and I were not sure we wanted another child after what we had gone through with Wyatt. But God knew better. I was much more excited through this pregnancy. It was fun to tell Wyatt he was not the big brother who needed to look after and protect his little sister.

I sit here and remember and know that this is not the last struggle and hurddle I will have to endure. I was made stronger through this and know God is glorified when I obey. So I will keep on obeying and He will keep on blessing me.

The breath I didn't know I was holding

Yesterday, my baby turned ONE!!! As I walked around my parents home watching all those who came to celebrate, I couldn't help but remember. I think every mom must do this. How can you not? For me, this was a time to let go of the breath I had been holding this whole year. Every kids first birthday is a cause for celebration. My kid's first brithday is no different, if not an even bigger celebration.

Wyatt was born 15 weeks early weighing only 1 lb. 15.5 oz. Last night, as my best friend texted me "Happy Birthday Wyatt" at the time he was born, I burst into tears. I could finally take another breath; let out the one I didn't realize I was holding. Wyatt came into this world much earlier than we had perpared. But here we are, one year later with a healthy, crawling, rowdy, laughing, little boy.

This is Jason's wedding ring over Wyatt's arm.

What a difference Prayer makes.

Without the prayers from our friends and family I don't think we would be here, all of us, healthy and joyful. Your prayers packed the pounds on Wyatt and brought him home one week after his due date. What a year! What an advernture!