Losing tempers

This last week Tigger decided to play in the bathroom sink. He knows he shouldn't but he tends to anyway when he goes to the bathroom. However this time he left a towel in the sink and the water running. I have no idea how long it was like that before I went in to grab some tissue to wipe Roo's nose (he and I have colds) and discovered Tigger's new water park.

I'll be honest, I lost my temper and wanted to throttle him. Angel was also upset and let him know it in no uncertain terms. He was promptly told that he was expected to clean up the mess immediately and that if he was lucky he would be allowed to see the light of day before he died. It was a fair amount of water and I knew that towels were not going to get the job done by themselves. So I ran down to get the wet/dry vacuum. That's when i realized that it was raining in the basement. That should have really made me even more upset but it didn't. In fact I wasn't even mad. I think this was because I had dropped my phone that morning.

For the last two weeks I've been dealing with the complications of dropping my phone. I won't bore you with the details, but that very morning I dropped my replacement phone and broke the screen. I was so mad at myself for doing something so stupid that I almost threw the phone against the wall. The whole situation had been such an emotional ride already that I was just done. I hopped in the car and used the drive to "talk myself back from the ledge." I had to tell myself that life would go on, that it wan't as bad as my emotions were making me think it was, and that I needed to calm down. I finally succeeded in calming down and everything really was fine.

I think because I had to deal with my own little emergency that morning that I didn't totally flip out even worse when I saw the waterfall. In fact, I might have laughed. I worked with Tigger and he did a great job getting everything cleaned up. Really, he didn't complain or shirk, even though he doesn't normally like vacuums. I was really impressed and while he couldn't play with friends for three days, it was only for three days.

In the end, I think it was a great experience for him despite the difficulty he caused.

Baby Roo, the full story

It happened. After posting initially on Facebook I figure I better give the whole run down here (with pictures). On Sept 4 / 2014 at 5:24 am Roo was born. He weighed 8 pounbds 3 (actually he was 2.9) ounces and was 21 inches long.

With Roo, Angel was so high risk for preterm labor that we expected him to come every day. So it was weird to have go actually have him go to 39 weeks. Last week the doctor decided that they could break Angel's water so an appointment was made for Sept 3rd at 8:00 pm. Many people asked why schedule it for the evening and we don't know. Maybe it was so the hospital wouldn't be so busy, but that didn't work. In short, we don't know why it was scheduled for that time. My mom came up to watch the kids while we went into the hospital.

Angel had actually been having regular, strong contractions starting at 5:00 pm that day, almost as if her body had just been waiting for an appointment. We got her all checked in at the hospital and set up in a birthing room. Since she was contracting they didn't break her water right away, but did so at about 11:00. By midnight she has having very painful contractions and she got her lovely epidural. The medicine took well and she was able to get some relief. I snatched a few hours of sleep at that point, which was nice. but woke up at about 3:00 as Angel was having some discomfort. We got her adjusted and at 4:00 the nurses said she was ready to start pushing.

Roo was quite obstinate. He kept slipping back up after she would push him down. The doctor came in at about 4:40 and said that he had dreamed that this kid would be 9 pounds 2 ounces. We hoped he was wrong and enjoyed his good humor for the rest of the delivery. We felt bad for our nurse, Taylor. She went off shift at 5:00 and had been so wonderful during the whole process but didn't get to see Roo. When he did come he came quickly. As he crowned the doctor commented about how big and hairy his head was. They were a little worried about the state of his amniotic fluid and that he might have breathed some in, but he was fine. I remember Kanga's birth and that she fussed and cried a bit as they were cleaning her off but Roo was quite and stoic through the whole process. He gasped a little after they suctioned him out, but other than that he just wiggled and looked around. His eyes were open for most of the time and he would move around, but didn't make any noise. That sounds like it should be worrying but it wasn't.

The staff here at the hospital have been great and we should be able to go home today. Roo's delivery and first day couldn't have gone better. He's passed his tests and is feeding well. He is a quite boy who has slept quite a bit, but done well. Angel even had to wake him up for his first shift of evening feedings. Kanga and Tigger came to visit and both approve of their new brother. It's been a wonderful experience here and we are looking forward to getting him home.

Reflections on an impending birth

Even before Angel and I found out we were going to have a third child a friend mentioned that, "it gets a little harder when your kids outnumber you." Since we've learned about Roo's arrival it we've thought a lot about what it will be like with three kids.

The first thing that came to mind is that we will have to move at some point because our house isn't big enough for three kids. We might have been able to get by with two, but when they get to be pre-teens and teens I'm sure it will start to feel very cramped. This is a big bummer because: 1 - I hate moving, and 2 - we really love our house and yard. Just yesterday we put up 9.5 pints of peach jam from our tree and still have peaches for cobbler and freezing. We're probably going to stay in Brigham City and would love to stay in our neighborhood. But luckily that's a ways down the road.

The second thought was that it would mean diapers, night feedings, potty training and reliving the chores and excitements of an infant again. I really like little kids and don't mind the responsibilities that come with them. I remember when Kanga was an infant having to cope with those same things and gagging at times as I changed her diaper and cleaned up her messes. Angel laughs at me (usually after the fact) but I have gotten pretty calloused about it over the years. By the time Tigger came on the scene I had gotten poop on myself several times and that seems to have desensitized me to a lot (not all, but a lot) of it. Although I do hope that Roo potty trains faster than Tigger.

Third was a reflection on the gap between our children. Kanga and Tigger are just over two years apart (27 months) and Tigger and Roo will be over four years apart (about 51 months). This is not a huge gap as there is a seven year gap between the youngest and the next oldest of my own siblings. It still makes us think about if Roo and Tigger will get a long and be good friends even though they won't ever attend school together. My own brother an I have a six year gap and while we get a long great now there were times he was the annoying younger brother and I was the domineering older brother. That is liable to happen at any age, but I know that I, growing up, I had a better relationship with my two sisters (one two years older and the other two years younger) then I did with my younger brother (6 years). One very positive thing about the four year gap is that if our boys both serve religious missions it is unlikely that they will both be out at the same time. Not that this couldn't happen with Kanga and Tigger though.

Fourth was how blessed we are. While we were happy with our two children Angel always felt that there would be more. However, her family history is not good when it comes to childbirth. Her mother experienced massive difficulties with her third pregnancy and Angel was worried enough that she was on a long time birth control when she got pregnant. Figuring that natural childbirth was too dangerous we looked into adoption through foster care and other agencies and were either rejected or found it far too expensive. Ultimately, we looked at our situation and said, "Lord, we have looked at everything we can think of and found ourselves wanting. If we are to have another child you will need to provide the way." It wasn't that much later when we learned of Angel's pregnancy. It came right after we had sold our house in Price and been able to pay off some debt. Angel was scheduled for some heart tests, but those had to be put on hold, but her condition hasn't been a factor. She has remained physically fit and healthy during the whole time and, as far as we can tell, Roo has always been a very active and healthy child. All in all, the process could have been a lot worse and really couldn't have been much better than what it has been.

I'll let you know how it goes.

Waiting

In the words of the great Spaniard, Inigo Montoya, "I hate waiting." Really I've gotten better over then years but it's still something I struggle with. As I write this we are waiting in the hospital to hear if they are going to send us home or if they'll have us stay because Roo is going to be born.

Angel started having contractions yesterday at about 3:00 pm. They were regulars as long as she was moving or standing abut they would become irregular if she sat or lay down. Last night we prepped a few extra things (her overnight bag and mine were already packed) and she spend several hours pacing to see if it would continue labour. I tried to get some sleep with moderate success. This morning we decided to come in and have them check. So far it's mixed. Yes she has contractions but we can't tell if her water broke (we thought it might have sprung a leak) and she's not dilated beyond a 2.

So we get to wait at the hospital  for the lab results, for the doctor, for Roo. I am glad that I have a book and my iPod but this mind of waiting is the type that distracts you from your distractions. What's more, last time Angel went into labour we were in the hospital for about 14 hours. I wish the chairs were more comfortable.

Update: they are sending us home. Evedently today is most likely not the day.

Normal Life

It doesn't seem like a lot of interesting things have been happening of late. We've fallen into a routine at home and work without there being many changes. This is good and bad as it means that nothing has gone wrong in our lives and yet things seem somewhat mundane. I have to agree with M.C. from "A Laugh or Death Situation" that there is absolutely nothing wrong with being normal. As someone who has experienced some of the things that she has, I can relate to her situation - and I don't have problems with having a "normal" life.

We really do enjoy our quite life. This isn't to say that we don't have fun, but it is quite in that our evenings are taken up with homework, reading books, talking, and chores. On the really exciting days we'll all end up in the kitchen while dinner is cooking dancing to the music on the radio. I started teaching Kanga the Cha-Cha the other day. I need to work on my leading technique. She and Tigger (who has started jumping off of everything, like his namesake) will usually play well together after dinner until it's time for pajamas. If they get them on quickly enough we'll read some books before prayers and bed. Kanga is getting better at reading, as is clear as we read the Book of Mormon after dinner every night.

Thinking of the Book of Mormon, and other sacred texts, I have plenty of memories as a kid when I was happy when my parents forgot or didn't have time to read after dinner. This was because I always thought there were other things that were more fun to do. My parents started the tradition of reading after dinner when I was about Kanga's age and have kept it up for the last twenty-five years. We've alternated through the Book of Mormon, the New Testament, and the Doctrine and Covenants, but always returned to the Book of Mormon. We're doing the same thing in our family. We are almost 200 pages through and it's only been over a year and a half. We do what we can with small children, but like I said, Kanga's reading has been improving and she is able to get through a lot of the words a lot better. She's due for some more testing and one of the things they do to practice is read nonsense words. I think words like "Limhi," "Amulek," and "Abinidi" make pretty good practice. Not to mention all the "heretofores", "therefores," and "delivereds" she's had to deal with. I remember my parents joking that the teachers would be surprised when their kids could read rather uncommon words with ease, but struggle with many basic ones. I think about it often when Kanga is reading.

We're continuing preparations for the arrival of Baby Roo in September. I'm calling him Roo because he bounces around like mad in his mother and he'll be sharing a room with his older brother. That and I'm positive that Kanga will be great at giving him instructions and helping to take care of him. Last night we had some delicious potato casserole with chorizo. The last time we made it I enjoyed putting the leftovers in tortillas for my lunch for a week afterwards. This time though we froze the massive amounts of leftovers so that we could have a read made meal should we need it after Roo shows up. We're also looking for a bunk bed for the two boys. We've seen some great ideas of taking the slats out of the bottom bunk and putting a crib in there. That will maximize the space in their room. I hate to say it, but there will probably come a point in the next ten years or so when we will have to move just to find a bigger home. We love this house (and yard) but fitting three kids in there is going to be an interesting challenge.

This has turned out longer than I initially thought it would. Life is good and that is really all there is to it.

Potty Training

While we were in Boston, Tigger was introduced to potty training. Nae-Nae (Angel's grandmother) was watching the kids and on the first day informed Tigger that she was not going to change any diapers so he better get used to using the toilet like everybody else. She only had minimal problems as he was more than willing to use the toilet when he remembered to. Nae recruited Kanga to help Tigger remember to use the toilet and by the time we returned he was having good success. The problem is, that it's never as cool when it's Mom and Dad asking you to use the toilet.

It's been a little up and down this week with him, but we finally have come to understand a few things with him. He's been doing much better and it is so nice not to have to change diapers, even if we occasionally have to clean up a messed pair of underwear. Things should be stable enough that he will get it eventually. Poor Kanga had problems for quite a while, but we couldn't really blame her.

When we were trying to potty train Kanga she had it down pretty well, but then her world got flipped upside down. Tigger was born and it wasn't in the way that we had been preparing her. Suddenly she and her mom were living with my parents, her little brother was sick and she couldn't see him, and her dad would only be there for a little while. The potty training was the first thing to go. The poor girl just had all kinds of trouble. It was quite a while before she wasn't prone to wet herself at my parents. Longer than we hoped. Often she would be good everywhere else, but the shocks and difficulty she had experienced just wrecked havoc on her. She is well adjusted now and is a great help to her brother. I certainly hope that Tigger has it a little easier than her.