I'd Like To Bear My Testimonies

I shot this early on Sunday before Conference began. That is why Kendra is in her pjs and her hair isn't done. :)

The love/hate relationship

Kendra at 4 months

Megan at 3 months

Everyone tells us how similar our girls look. Well, they are sisters! These two pictures show just how much they do look alike.

.

.

Megan handled her shots much better than I had anticipated. I knew for sure she would get sick because I infected her with 5 live rotavirus strains, (not to mention cow blood serum and monkey kidney cells). I was surprised that she didn't get a fever or severe irritability. She did wake up in the middle of the night for the first time in weeks and her cheeks got a little pink, but that was it.

.

.

I have decided that Walmart and I have a love/hate relationship. I love Walmart. I enjoy shopping there for many items, especially baby items because of their great prices. Yet at the same time I hate Walmart. I never can park closer than 100 yards from the door. This is only difficult since one hand carries the carseat while the other hand is holding Kendra's. When I finally make it to the entrance my arm is dying and I can't wait to find a cart. Seems easy enought right? Well, because my little infant will take a ride in the cart I like to have one that has all wheels working properly. This is difficult to find. After the third or fourth cart I give in and decide that all carts at Walmart go bump...bump...bump throughout the store. Megan hates this and eventually protests as I hurry through the shopping. The last time I went to Walmart I needed diapers. I only buy Pampers Swaddlers and to my dismay thay were all out of size 2! They even checked the back for me. I grabbed the other items and walked discouragedly to the check out. I like to use the garden checkout because, even though it doesn't have a sign stating it, the garden checkout is a "20 item or less" checkout. It's just an unspoken rule. Apparently not everyone knows this. I pulled up behind two people in line. No problem. The person checking out handed the cashier the last box of Pampers Swaddlers size 2 diapers! And she obviously didn't care what brand to use because she bought the Parent's Choice diapers as well. Seriously? Couldn't I have that box? And then this person had a cart that reminded me of a clown car. You know that car that is tiny but can hold 20 plus clowns? They just keep coming and coming and you wonder where in the world they fit in there? Her cart didn't look full but she just kept pulling more and more items from there. After ten or so minutes the line at this checkout was so long that the cashier called for backup. When the next cashier came everyone beat me to the next line, so I watched, almost entertained by how much she could fit in that cart. Finally she was done - the bill was almost $300. She took her government card out to pay for it but it didn't work. The cashier tried again and again to help the customer but the card just wouldn't work. So she pulled out three 100 dollar bills! And you are on welfare why? By this time the other line was empty so I trotted over there to check out my ten items. Walmart and I have a love/hate relationship that will probably continue and never be solved.

Poison

So I took my healthy daughter to the doctor today just to inject her with a substance that will make her sick. Does this make sense to anyone? I have studied and researched vaccine safety for 3 years now and I still wonder if I have made the right decision for Megan. At two months Kendra was given 6 vaccines. It was down hill from there and I vowed never to do that again. Today Megan was given (at three months) the Rotateq for the rotavirus and the HIB (Act HIB with no aluminum). I'm smarter this time around and hope her body can handle it. I eat really healthy and I've given her probiotics. I'll write in a few days to let you know how she is.

Two or three weeks ago I came down with the flu. It began with a severe sore throat, fever, body aches, chills, and then it traveled to my lungs. I hoped for the swine flu because then - hey- natural immunity! I worried that Megan would get it and that it would go into RSV. The little stinker took all my antibodies which made it more difficult for my body to feel better but she never got sick. Amazing.

Kendra now attends preschool once a week. She absolutely loves it. I had time to do her hair cute this week.

Megan's Blessing

During the Labor Day weekend my parents and sister came down to bless Meggie. It's great whenever my dad comes because he can fix everything in our house. The first thing he found was a black widow underneath Kenrdra's outdoor slide!! I'm so glad he found that!

We bought a pool for Kendra because, now that summer is over, they are on sale. Kendra LOVES to swim and it has just killed her that I haven't taken her swimming this year.

This is the pool Kendra picked out.

I love this picture because Mark is in the background still playing in the pool even after Kendra left to come inside!!

Our Little Girls

Kendra loves to be a helper. Last week she asked if she could change Megan's diaper. So I let her take it off and I then put the new diaper on. Just after that Megan pooped and Kendra said, "I don't want to change THAT one!"

Kendra is very sweet and loving to Megan. I haven't seen the jealousy that most mature moms warned us about. As she holds Megan she often says, "it's okay, sister's got ya."

At the last doctor appointment Megan weighed 10 lbs. and 10 oz. and was 23 1/2 inches long. She is larger than Kendra was at two months. And here I thought Meggie would be my petite one.

When Meggie has hard days I often hold her most of the time. On one of these occasions I was upstairs rocking her when I could no longer hear Kendra downstairs. That's a bad sign. She then came upstairs and very excitedly told me that she had put play doh on all of her toys! Can you see the blobs of play doh? Yep, it was on everything...she sure had fun.

Oh Boy

Meggie at 6 weeks

Sometimes when I feed Meggie Kendra grabs her baby doll and bottle and pretends to feed her too. Then she'll grab a burp rag and burp her. Meggie has the tendency to spit up a ton and a few times as Kendra burped her baby she has said, "oh no! you spit up all over me!" She then scrubs her shoulder, the couch, the floor, and where ever else the spit up fell.



Mark warned me that one of these days Kendra would try to breast feed her baby. The day came earlier this week. As I fed Megan Kendra grabbed her baby...but not the bottle.



By some miracle on Tuesday both of my girls took a nap at the same time. I can't remember if this ever has happened. My excitement was too much and I was unable to fall asleep! Oh the irony.



Meggie often has a difficult time staying asleep during nap times. For instance, she will nap for 4-5 minutes, with the longest nap being 20 minutes. This results in a very sleep deprived baby. This has occurred since she was a week old. She has her doctor appointment next week and I'm hoping her doctor can shed some light on this. She really isn't a cranky baby since she's been on the prevacid unless she's overly tired. Any ideas on how to get a baby to stay asleep?!?!

Our little nerdy girl

Learn to Laugh

The other night Megan decided she wanted to eat every hour for the first four hours of her night time sleep. Then, after sleeping for two hours - in her waking up mode - she pooped. I got up, put her on the changing table, and upon hearing that she was gassy decided I would wait a bit longer to change her. I left her on the changing table (it has railings - she wasn't going to fall) and went to the bathroom to give her some time. In the mean time Mark - seeing that Megan needed to be changed decided he would be the heroic husband and change her for me.

Just then Megan pooped while Mark wiped her. He was able to catch it in the diaper and felt very proud of himself. This victory was short lived. He lifted her legs to wipe her again when all of a sudden the largest force known to nature exploded all over the table, Mark, and the floor.

That is exactly why I was waiting! Upon looking at the disgusting mess that I now would need to clean I mumbled, "thanks for helping and creating more work for me." Then I remembered a talk by I think Elder Wirthlin where he said, "learn to laugh." I then looked at Mark's shocked face, poop covering his arm from his wrist to his elbow and all over his shirt and bottoms and I couldn't help but bust up. It was the funniest sight I had ever seen! I only wish I had a camera nearby. All the next day I couldn't help but laugh - it may have been the sleep deprivation but it truly was hilarious! I am so glad Mark changed that diaper! Although he's not so eager to help anymore. :(

Life is Full of Surprises

When we first moved to ABQ our swamp cooler was broken and we went without it for the two hottest weeks here. A couple of weeks ago I turned on the swamp cooler only to hear a loud thud. I knew something broke so turned it off and waited for Mark to come home. Funny that it always brakes in July. The wheel had fallen off of the axle of the motor. I told Mark just to buy a new motor, but Mark was determined to fix it. After alot of pounding he was able to get the wheel back on. AND it is still working!

Things break quite often with us. We bought a wheat grinder about a year ago - one that you crank and doesn't require electricity. My idea was to use it in case of an emergency. Well, now that I'm baking with oat flour I need to grind oats with my grinder. Mark set it up and cranked for about 30 seconds before it broke! Seriously? AND the really stinky part is that it has a warranty, BUT you have to send in the warranty card within 15 days of purchase for it to be valid. Well, at least it broke before we really needed it.

Meggie has reflux and takes prevacid each day. I hate giving my little tiny infant medicine, but I hope it helps her. Along with the prevacid I have had to completely change my diet. I have taken all allergens out, (thus the oat flour). I can eat meat, rice, oatmeal, potatoes, etc. No dairy, eggs, wheat, etc. I have learned that dieting really isn't hard if you find something that is motivating enough. But then again, it's only been 4 days since I've cut everything!

Most people who have young infants nap when their baby naps. I'm amazed at how functional I am without naps because I really am tired. If Kendra takes a nap (which she usually doesn't) then Meggie's awake. If Meggie is asleep Kendra is awake! AND on the off chance that they are both asleep (like once a week) I usually only get 10-15 minutes before one wakes up crying!

I decided that Kendra no longer needs a paci to sleep. I told her that when she threw away her pacis that we could go to the disney store and buy whatever princess dress she wanted. She was so excited that she immediately got rid of them. The paci fairies came and picked them up and took them to paci land while she napped that day. This is the dress she picked out:

This is the only time she wore the dress! It was too scratchy and she didn't like it! I am so glad I left the tags on! We took it back the next day and she decided she wanted a Jasmine doll instead. Which was fine with me because it was significantly cheaper!

Meggie is now 8lbs 9 oz and 21 1/2 inches long. Do you see how ginormous she is compared to me? I am so glad my babies are small! A larger baby would not fit in me. Kendra is giving her sister kisses in this picture. She is so sweet to her.

Doctors and Diets

For the first time in three years there were no tears at the doctor's office!! Meggie had her two week appointment and Kendra had her three year check-up on Tuesday. There were no tears, no gagging, no vomiting, screaming, etc. This was a historic day!! Kendra has always hated the doctor. And I do mean always - ever since she was two weeks old. She would be fine until we went into the exam room and the screams would begin. Her pediatrician couldn't believe how well behaved Kendra was! Mark was surprised that with all of her patients she remembered Kendra. Trust me, with a kid acting like a hysterical caged monkey, you would remember. As soon as her doctor was finished examining her, Kendra asked, "can I have a sucker now?" Meggie hasn't had any shots yet - maybe that's why she likes to see the doctor.

I'm still on a diet! I was so happy after I gave birth because that meant I could have more fats in my diet. Well, Meggie might have reflux. She spits up a ton. So I can no longer eat dairy products or ethnic food - including pizza. Her pediatrician put it this way, "eat steak and potatoes." So I'm going back to my up bringing and eating what I did as a kid - except this time I will not have butchered it.

3 Years Ago

Three years ago today we moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico and into our first home. *sniff* Before we left Provo, Utah the air conditioning in our '94 Camry was temperamental. Sometimes it worked, other times it didn't. We decided to add a can of freon to see if that would help. We drove around for awhile and enjoyed the cool air. But just in case it stopped working on our journey Mark bought water bottles with motorized fans on them.

Somewhere between Green River and Moab the a/c became warmer and warmer until finally it didn't work at all. At this time it was noon and about 100 degrees in Moab, not a cloud in sight, and no breeze. We were each hot and sweaty. Mark and I both worried about baby Kendra who was three weeks old at the time. I used the motorized spray bottles on everyone trying to keep us cool. It was just too hot and the water seemed to evaporate before it hit us. Mark and I both said a prayer and pleaded with our Father in Heaven to help us.

As we drove out of Moab a slight breeze picked up and clouds began to fill the sky. By the time we hit Cortez it was cloudy and rainy. We were able to make the rest of our trip without worrying about our little girl.

This was a testimony to us that we are watched over, that God hears and answers our prayers, and that if something matters to us, it matters to Him. We have often felt his hand in our lives before and after this. How grateful we are for his matchless love.

A Baby Story

Last Monday, (June 22nd) I had to get an ultrasound to ensure that Megan was growing properly. There was some problem (heart rate I think) so I was then sent to the hospital for fetal monitoring. Mark met me for the ultrasound but then returned to work. I didn't expect to go to the hospital so I had Kendra with me. "We'll just watch tv" I thought. Well, in the room where they monitor their patients at Lovelace, there was no tv! I asked the nurse how long it would take and she said 20-30 minutes. I could entertain Kendra for that long. So after an hour and a half I was running out of ideas. Luckily my doctor came in to release me. I said, "Dr.Connors, feel free to induce me whenever you want." He then said, "hmm...maybe Wednesday." "REALLY?!?!" His nurse called me later that day and told me that they would give me some pills on Wednesday and send me home.

On Tuesday the nurse called again to tell me to go straight to Labor and Delivery on Wednesday at 2:30. I asked her what pills they were going to give me. I can't remember what they are called, but with Kendra they put me into hard labor. I told her I couldn't be sent home after having those pills put in my cervix. She said she would talk to the doctor and call me back. That afternoon the nurse told me she misunderstood Dr. Connors. He was going to induce me on Wednesday and that I would not be sent home. YAY!! I called my sister and asked if she could come the next morning for a couple of days to watch Kendra. We had friends who generously offered to watch her, but I knew I wouldn't give birth until that night and I worried about leaving her overnight at someone else's home. We were very grateful that Shoni could fly last minute and was willing to watch Kendra while I was in the hospital.

This is us just before we left for the hospital. Mark can't wait to be a daddy again but see my face? I know the pain that's coming!

When we arrived at Labor and Delivery the nurse's station did not have me down as coming in for an induction! I was near tears - we had flown Shoni down for this and I wasn't leaving until they induced me! At 3;30 pm Dr. Connors said they had some emergencies that had come in but had just sent someone home so a room was free for me. Thank goodness! I was admitted at 3;30 pm, but didn't get the pill in my cervix until 5:30 pm. I had to lay down for two hours and then at 7:30 pm they wanted me to walk to get labor going. Yeah, like I needed to walk. I was already having contractions that were every 4-5 minutes apart. I got up to walk but bled all over. Now, having done this once before I knew the horrific pain was just around the corner. At Lovelace hospital you have to ask for you epidural at least 30 minutes before you'll get it. So at 7:30 pm I asked for it. By 8:15 pm I wanted it. At 8:30 pm I asked when I would get it, and finally at 9:00 pm I got it.

With Kendra I felt alot of pressure and couldn't wait to push her out. With Megan it was different. I only felt a ton of pressure with the contractions. At around 11 pm I told the nurse this. She checked me around 11:45 pm and sure enough I was at a ten and ready to go. Dr. Connors had to finish a c-section, so I had to wait until 12:15 am to push. Megan Elizabeth was born at 12:37 am. When she came out she had a great cry even though she was blue. They had to syphon her tummy because of all the amniotic fluid she swallowed. But other than that and being so small (5lbs. 15 oz.) she was healthy. So far she has an easy temperament and is a very calm, happy baby. We are very grateful that everything went well and feel very blessed. Many friends and neighbors have offered support and love and we are grateful for their kindness and generosity.

The proud father

Baby Meggie

Sisters

Kendra doesn't look happy in the picture, but she really is a good older sister.

The Latest and Greatest

KENDRA'S BIRTHDAY


Kendra turned three this past week. We had a princess theme for her and Mark decorated the house in pink, white, and dark pink streamers along with balloons. We've talked about her birthday for months so when it was finally her birthday she said, "today is my birthday!?!?!" She wanted a princess cake but this is all she got from me:



She was a little disappointed until I told her it was a Snow White cake because it had Snow White's colors - red, yellow, and blue. Then she liked it.

Her Grandma and Grandpa Vickers sent her a few dollars for her birthday. We decided to let her buy something with it. She really wanted a Snow White doll. Those little ones with the rubber dresses. We put her money in a purse and I told her what she would have to do to buy it. Give it to the cashier and give her all of your money that's in the purse. I told her she had to do it by herself because I wasn't going to help her! Sounds mean, but trust me, it's a good experience for her. Kendra picked out the Snow White she wanted and did a great job. She talked non-stop to the cashier about her doll, gave her the money and then asked, "can I take her home now?"

As parents we give her 1-2 presents for her birthday. We bought a Belle dress last December at a 50% off sale and saved it for her. She looks like a little lady.

Kendra and I play a game called "Achoo." We pretend to sneeze and we have to give kisses to stop each other from sneezing. We go, "aaaahhh," "aaaaahhh," "AAAAHHH," and then instead of "choo" it's "awww."

As soon as Mark gets home Kendra eggs him on to chase her. She'll tease him, take things from him, anything. She loves to be chased by her daddy."

PREGNANCY

So baby Megan has actually turned! This is very exciting to me - her head is down and I'm dilated to a 2. I'm hoping that she'll come within the next two weeks. I'm getting anxious to be done with being pregnant. Here are some fun things I've experienced this time around that I didn't with Kendra:

1. I no longer can fit in the normal bathroom stalls in some public places and have to use the handicapped stall.

2. I have acquired stretch marks in each of the spots that didn't get them with Kendra.

3. I am no longer able to reach my toenails without a crazy acrobatic move. Therefore I am left to depend on a 3 year old or my husband to cut and paint them - both of which do about the same job.

Here is the latest and greatest picture of me.