Parkinson Family: May 2010

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Our exciting new addition!

The day finally arrived for our new little one to come- Jared Lyle Parkinson was born on Wednesday, May 19th at 2:18 pm. He came 3 1/2 weeks early, so it was a little unexpected, but we are glad that he is here and he is healthy. Although we weren't quite sure when it would happen, it wasn't a huge surprise that he came early. At my Dr apt on May 10th I was only 35 weeks and already dilated to 3 cm. I couldn't believe it!! The Dr said I needed to take it easy- no more exercise, heavy lifting, etc. It would be better for the baby if I could make it to at least 37 weeks. So, I was trying to buy some time and make it two more weeks if possible. I felt like a time bomb ready to blow up any minute. It can be hard to just "take it easy", though, especially with so many things to do to get ready for the baby to come. I did try, and put off many of the things I had hoped to get done. I could have used a few more weeks to prepare, but the baby had other plans.

The night before he was born, I had planned a Young Women's activity with all the girls in my ward where we drove clear down to Bountiful to a Wedding/Prom dress shop and had a lesson about modesty. They were able to try on some dresses and it was a really great experience. I don't really feel like it was too much stress. I do look at it as a tender mercy that I was able to follow through with it that night because I had really wanted to be there.

At 1:15 am that next morning, I went into labor. I woke Aaron up and we called a neighbor to come over until my mom could get here from Sandy. We arrived at the hospital (Logan Regional) at about 3:15 and I was a little disappointed to find I was only at 4 cm. I felt like I should've been at least at 6 with the way I had been contracting. After that the contractions started to slow down a little, too. Because I was only 36.5 weeks (so 2 days short of full term) they weren't going to try to stop labor but also couldn't do anything to help it progress. So, Aaron and I walked around in the halls and just waited around. Until I could prove that I was progressing into full labor, I just had to wait it out through contractions.

Finally at around 10:15, the Dr came in and I was 5 cm. He broke my water and then just after this I got my epidural. Again, we waited until I was complete. Then, I had to push through 4 contractions and he was born. He was 7 lbs 3 oz and 19 inches long. He came out crying with apgars of 8 and 9. He was doing a little bit of grunting right at first so after a few minutes they took him and put him on some CPAP for about and hour and then he was just fine. He has been so great- a great eater and sleeper and we have enjoyed him so much. Our experience at the hospital was great. It was nice to be pampered for a few days and have time to recover.

We came home Friday morning and have been making the transition to a family of SIX!!! The kids have been so excited about their new baby brother and that has been a lot of fun.

We are grateful to be so blessed by our father in Heaven, who has given us this beautiful blessing in our lives. We are so happy that he is healthy and there were no complications. What an amazing thing to have a family- to be able to find joy in being parents to a new little spirit sent straight from heaven! Although having a new baby includes plenty of work, sleepless nights, and many other adjustments, we are ready to take it on and look forward to many fun and rewarding times ahead.

Friday, May 7, 2010

Happy Birthday Lucky!

I know this may seem kind-of silly, but our dog turned one-year old on April 26th and the kids really wanted to celebrate his birthday. So, for his first birthday, we had a little celebration. Erika and I made him home-made dog biscuits from a kids cookbook. We wrapped him a little gift and sang happy birthday to him. Then, after the "celebration", he got to finish off a big ham bone from the Sunday dinner a few days before. (His favorite part). I doubt this will be a yearly thing, but it was fun for this time. Having a dog has definitely been a different experience for me than I thought it would be. I guess it's different from the perspective of "the mom" vs a child who simply plays with it and doesn't have to train it or do much to take care of it besides give it lots of love. It has been a lot harder for me than I remember it as a child. I have found I have less patience with him, and less time for him with all the other demands on my time. But, I know the kids love him and have fun with him and that was the main reason we got him. He can be a little stinker at times but he is also very cute- lucky him.

Parkinson funnies

Nov 2012- Aaron was watching football on TV and Jared came out saying, "I want to go watch grass!"

Dec 2011- Heidi said one morning, "Mom, there's frosting on the house!" (on a cold day when frost was on the house).

June 2, 2011- Driving in the car Kyle said to his sister, "If you don't learn to talk, Jesus will make you talk Spanish." (He explained later that he actually meant sign language. That's how he thought it worked.)

Feb 28, 2011- Kyle said, "I don't like to have babysitters because they are only supposed to take care of babies!" Then we explained that they can take care of bigger kids too.

Dec 15, 2010- Kyle said, "I know how they make egg nog. First they dump in the eggs and mix them around. Then they put in the nog..."

Oct 20, 2010- Kyle said, "Mom, is some cheese blue?" I said it is called blue cheese but isn't really that blue. He said, "Well, then does it taste like blueberries?" I love all the questions he asks about how the world works- He's really trying to figure things out.

Oct 7, 2010- We were driving by Arctic Circle and Kyle said, "Is that the hamburger hut? I like that hut." I am wondering if he was remembering a time when we went to "Pizza Hut".

Aug 12, 2010- We were driving by a farm where there was a big fire burning up the field and Kyle said, "Dad, is that where the indians live?"

Aug 8, 2010- We were driving in the car and Kyle said, "Dad, I think I 'm truck-sick." "You mean car sick?" "No, truck sick- when you're sick in the truck."

Aug 2, 2010- We were headed off to a doctor's appointment for the baby and he was crying. Kyle said, "Mom, I think he's crying because you said he is going to get a shot."

June 28, 2010- The other day at dinner it was Heidi's turn to pray and daddy was helping her. She was just repeating everything word for word when he got to "Please bless it.." and said it 3 times. Finally I had to open my eyes to see what the hold up was. Well, little Heidi was just stuffing spaghetti in her mouth as fast as she could and it was hanging out all over. We all just bust up laughing. I guess she just couldn't wait any longer!

May 19, 2010- On the way home from the hospital after seeing their new baby brother, Erika said, "When I was born mom and dad said that I looked blue." Kyle said, "And when I was born I was pink and red. "

Dec 9,2009- The other day we were eating dinner and Kyle didn't want to eat. He said, "I don't like to eat aliens!" We told him there were no aliens in his dinner. Then, realizing what he was talking about, I said, "You mean onions?" He kept calling onions "aliens" and we got a kick out of it.

Nov 20, 2009- Erika lost another tooth at school today. Kyle said to her, "Erika, when my tooth gets loose and comes out, I'll give mine to you."

Oct 10, 2009- Today Erika said, "Mom, someday when I'm older, I want to get that recipe from you!"

Sept 9, 2009- We couldn't find our puppy anywhere and had driven all over the neighborhood to find him. Finally about 2 hours later Kyle showed up holding him and I said, "Where did you find him?" He said, "In the killer-box". "The what?" "The cooler-box". He had stuck him in a cooler in our backyard and forgotten about it. We were glad he was okay!! I felt terrible and gave him some extra TLC for a little while.

Sept 4, 2009- Erika said tonight, "You know what my favorite thing is about school? It's lunch... and learning... and break!" We said, "Isn't that the whole thing?"

Aug 17,2009- We were camping and had brought all our bikes. As we were leaving camp for a little while, Aaron commented that it might have been wise to bring a chain to lock up our bikes so they wouldn't get stolen. Erika said, "Or, we could have just brought a sign that said, 'DON'T STEAL!'".

July 12, 2009- Today at church Kyle looked at my Young Women's Medallion and said, "Mom, is that you on the necklace?"

July 3, 2009- Kyle had been sleeping down in Erika's room with some friends and came upstairs before we went to bed. He said, "Mom, there was some noise down there. I think it was the tooth fairy, coming to get the loose tooth."