A sweet and cute video!

IT'S A GIRL!!!

Yay! We went this morning and we have a girl! And the best part is that she is a normal size, unlike her big brother that was 6 weeks ahead of schedule the whole time in size!!! So, now we have to narrow down names...we are thinking Emma Grace or Chloe (no middle name yet). So we will see how it goes!

I am working on doing less...

Here is a quote I have grown to love. I am on a quest to simplify my life and I want to start now. I want to enjoy/experience the spiritual benefits of a simplified lifestyle. Enjoy....

Mothers Who Know Do Less

Mothers who know do less. They permit less of what will not bear good fruit eternally. They allow less media in their homes, less distraction, less activity that draws their children away from their home. Mothers who know are willing to live on less and consume less of the world’s goods in order to spend more time with their children—more time eating together, more time working together, more time reading together, more time talking, laughing, singing, and exemplifying. These mothers choose carefully and do not try to choose it all. Their goal is to prepare a rising generation of children who will take the gospel of Jesus Christ into the entire world. Their goal is to prepare future fathers and mothers who will be builders of the Lord’s kingdom for the next 50 years. That is influence; that is power.

Tubes it is...

Ok, I am officially sick of ear infections, but extremely grateful for modern medicine. We went to see our beloved pediatrician last Thursday. (He was our Singles ward Bishop before we got married) Little Dude's left ear was red, but not infected and his right ear was of course filled with fluid. So, I asked to be referred to a Pediatric ENT (ear, nose and throat specialist). He gladly gave me the referral and we made an appointment for that next week. Rob was in Boston on a business trip and so Little Dude and I went together to the appointment. LD loves his pediatricians office and knows where everything is and has the routine down. IE: You get weighed first, then the nurse takes your temp and then you get to go to your favorits room with the cool rocking truck in it and that has farm animals painted on the wall then Dr. Whiting comes in checks you out and then it is sucker time!!! But the ENT was different...the rooms have big machines and weird looking chairs in them. So, he freaked out a little, but I held him and the sweet nurse took good care of him. He passed the hearing test with flying colors(they said that he was the 1st child in 6 months to have had chronic ear infections and pass the test) he also passed some other test that checks something else out too...then the Doctor came in she said that after looking at the tests she didnt think he would need tubes and then.....she looked in his ears. Both ears had "puddles of white puss" at the base of the ear canal. She asked me how long he had been on antibiotics, I told her.(12 weeks) She then said one word. "TUBES!" So, we scheduled the surgery for the 10th of March (he has a cold and needs to be totally better before they can operate and do anesethia.) They will go in and suck out hte infection (puss) and then insert the tubes! So, we are willing this cold to go away and praying that his ears do not get any worse while we wait. I am a little apprehensive about the 'surgery' part, but it is a totally common and routine surgery for kids. I just wish it was me rather than him. He is just too little for this stuff....but maybe better now than when he can remember the bad. So, that is our update. Thanks for all the comments and prayers! we find out the day before tubes what we are having...finally. So, updates to follow!
Love, Jules

I think I am starting to realize more and more...

the love that my Heavenly Father has for each of his children. Let me explain... My Little Robbie has had ear infections and bronchitis (the non-contagious kind) since before Christmas. He has been on 9 different antibiotics and then we started breathing treatments (4x's a day, since January). So, we had just finished his most recent antibiotics on Thursday night. Friday He was whiny and wouldnt eat...Saturday he was ok and Sunday he was decent but still no eating. So, on Monday he was wheezy and stuffy in the nose so I made an appt for Tuesday morning at 9:15...9:15 is early for our household to be anywhere but the breakfast table in our pj's, but we managed to get to the Doctors office on time. The doctor took one look in his ears, listened to his chest and then made the following comments, "His ears look like we have never even given him antibiotics. They have puss in them and I'm worried that since this has been going on so long that he could have a hearing problem from all of this mess." , "His chest sounds terrible. I can't believe that he doesn't complain at all about this."
So: She sent us to American Fork Hospital to do the following:

* Get a chest x ray for pnemonia
* a deep suction from respiratory care &
* blood work
*and as rsv swab/culture

Now we had been there in January for a x-ray to make sure it wasn't pneumonia, and it wasn't...so this time I called Rob to meet us at the Doctors so we could go to the hospital together. (I can't go into the x-ray room.)
So Rob met us and we all went to the hospital together. As I sat in the hallway while the boys were doing the x-ray I heard my baby crying and it hurt me. I knew he was ok, just ticked about being strapped in to a corset-like contraption and not being allowed to be held by daddy. So, that was over in 10 minutes...we then proceeded to Respiratory Care where we were shown how to hold our baby down on the bed while the therapist gently suctioned him out. This involves sticking a tube down each nostril and sucking stuff up from the throat and lungs. It is not pleasant for adults, so imagine my 15 month old being held down by the 2 people who love him the most in this world while this is happening to him. He was MAD and SAD at the same time. Screaming and fighting. He is a strong boy. So, with that over they sent that to the lab and we left the hospital now knowing that he had to have blood work done on top of that. So we returned to the doctors office. He is receiving a series of 3 shots over 3 days for the ears (apparently it is the last resort before tubes go in) So, we held him down, again, for that shot which is a thick sticky substance that takes a good while to administer into the thigh muscle. Again, he was not happy...So, he calmed down and we left. Rob got in his car for work and I got in mine with Little Dude. We were literally pulling out of the parking lot when my phone rings...it was the hospital saying they forgot to do the blood work. So I called Rob to see if he could come back to the hospital but he needed to get back to work, so I took Little Dude to the Phlembotomy lab myself. Now keep in mind that I am pregnant and I cry at almot everything recently. I am not a crier so this is hard for me to control. So, basically, to make a long story shorter, I had to sit in this chair and hold my baby down while they TRIED to draw blood from his arms. I did not know you could do this from such a little person, apparently you can. It was the most heart wrenching thing and I am doing everything in my power to divert his attention form them digging around in his arm. "Look can you see Pooh Bear on her shirt?," "I know it hurts sweetie but it will be over soon,"... I was pathetic. Finally after about 15 minutes of them trying and failing in both arms...I asked to take a break...I couldnt handle it anymore. I turned Robbie around to me and he cried, "Mommy" and then clung to me sobbing. So, I lost it. I was bawling and trying to get it together and the lab girls looked mortified and I am trying to explain what a long day it had been and that I wasn't mad or upset at them that I was just pregnant, I don't think it worked. So, they finally called the "last-resort" person to come down and do the draw. She comes in the door and she says, "Why are they both crying?" At this point I could no longer talk...I just felt so bad for Robbie and that he didn't understand what all this was for. So, I wound up leaving the room, while they did the draw. (BTW she got it the 1st time she did it, now I know to ask for the "last-resort person" So, I am in the hall bawling uncontrollably and finally reached my dad on his phone at work...and he talked to me until they were done....I had to talk to someone b/c I coud hear him sreaming down the hall and through a closed lab door. (Thanks Dad for always being there for me) So they bring him out to me and we wound up sitting in the lobby for 30 minutes until we both calmed down enough to go to the car. And yes the lab girls kept checking on us to make sure we were ok. They were very nice. So we left, came home, and both took long naps. We went back to the doctors today for the 2nd shot....Little Dude saw the nurse coming...immediately started to cry and tried to make a break for it. He still got the shot and we only have 1 more to go tomorrow.
Ok, back to the original point I was going to make.
As we held our baby down and he screamed and kicked and thrashed in pain and confusion I thought about how much it must take for our loving Heavenly Father to let us experience some of the things we do here on earth. Rob and I understood that the tests we subjected Little Dude to were to help him get better and ultimately grow up happy and healthier. Robbie didnt understand that, but I'll make sure I keep telling him and reminding him when he is older. Likewise, Heavenly Father always sees the bigger picture of what we are going through and understands that tests/trials are always for our profit and learning, even when they may hurt like the dickens, cause us anguish and pain, and most of the time, like Little Robbie, we dont understand why we are having to go through these things. As I watched my baby go through these things it hurt, and I had as much emotional pain as he had physical pain, but I knew it was the best thing for him. I saw and gained a greater knowledge of the love that my Heavenly Father has for me and each of his children. It is tough to be a parent. It is tough to be a child sometimes..but thank goodness for the knowledge I have that my Heavenly Father loves me and is there for me.

So, there was our traumatic day...it is over, we are recovering and find out tomorrow about tubes. 2 shots down...1 more to go. Love to all of you!
~Jules