Whitney Pockets 2011

First camping trip of the year and probably my last camping trip pregnant with this baby!! Here's the belly, camping, at 36 weeks:
For those of you who have the question: "Does camping postpone ironman training?" NO SIR! This ironman tramped out 12 miles on dirt roads and then hiked 1 mile pure vertical mountain:
and recovered nicely:

Grandma brought out shirts and paints for the kids, little Leila was all ready for painting!

Jesse let the kids decorate his shirt with markers:

Leila spent the majority of the time up in the rocks (what kid doesn't at Whitney Pockets?!) In this picture she looks like pirate of the rocks with her sand beard, bandanna, and wooden sword:

Marshall got his fill of rock climbing too. When I undressed him at night I found (besides gallons and gallons of sand) scratches down his legs and on his belly from all his sliding up and down:

Cooper had about 5 different stick swords carved for him, I'm pretty sure most of them ended up like this one, burned in the fire:

Can we survive camping with 3 kids? YES we can!

On the last night of camping my dad brought out a flag that had been flown over the St. George Temple for many years and performed a flag retirement. It was a beautiful ceremony and the kids were surprisingly quiet and respectful. It was cool to see Dad and Alan in their scout uniforms and hear the history and traditions of the flag and it's retirement. We were lucky to have such an experience in such a beautiful place with most of our family there (we missed you Benny!).

Ear Tubes

Marshall had a checkup on Monday (about 4 days ago) to make sure his ear infections had gone away with the 2 rounds of anti-biotics (AND the ear oil I had been using in addition to the prescriptions). They weren't as healed as ears should be after 3 weeks. Most of the fluid was gone, but they were still inflamed and red and the skin was all scabbed over inside, so we scheduled him for tubes this morning.

I could see doing the surgery for myself if I had been having ear infection after ear infection... but making the decision for a 20 month old baby.... it was hard. I felt like the worst mom! Putting him through anesthesia?! Possible complications?!

Anyway... we prayed for the little guy and Daddy gave him a blessing this morning before we headed to the hospital. I felt mostly sure it was the right decision... but part of me was still thinking maybe he'd be ok without it. The hardest part about the morning was tricking him into skipping breakfast by giving him half a juice box. By the time we checked in at the hospital he was done with mom and had to be walked around the halls (naked, except for his diaper, because he refused to wear the hospital gown with tigers on it) by daddy.

They gave him a medicine that made him sleepy and kind of loopy. He spit out half of it, but I guess half a dose was enough, because 10 min. later he was making sounds with his spit to entertain himself instead of wiggling to get out of there. They wrapped him in a warm blanket and walked him down the hall to the OR while we waited in the waiting room. Even Jesse was a little emotional thinking of our baby in there, without us, having surgery.

The doctor came out about 45 min. later and told us everything had gone fine, but his right ear had been very distended and filled with infected fluid, so they had taken a little longer than normal waiting for it to drain and stop bleeding. The nurse came out and asked for us to come see him because he was awake. As we walked down the hall we could hear a baby screaming... and as we got closer I could tell it was Marshall... but not Marshall. It was Marshall screaming but he did not sound like my baby. They warned me that the anesthesia would make him very upset and confused when he woke up... but I did not expect him to be this inconsolable! It took 3 nurses to keep him in the crib till me and Jesse could get to him ( the kid is huge!). We got him out of there as soon as they checked his vitals again. He screamed all the way home and for 45 min. he rolled around on our bed hitting Jesse and then head-butting me, going back and forth between us (still screaming) until he fell asleep.

All that time I just kept thinking about that infection in his right ear that had developed in the 4 days since we had seen the doctor. 4 days! I just hope these tubes are the thing to help keep the infections away for good now.

He slept for a couple hours, woke up cranky until he drank some juice and had some crackers and rice. Now he seems totally normal! He's happy, playing, and seems pain free! Even through all that, I feel like it was the right decision. I hope he's a happy, healthy boy from here on out!

Baby Update

We got to see the baby again on Tuesday (just one day shy of 34 weeks). The Dr. just wanted to make sure my placenta was well out of the way for delivery because at 20 weeks it was threateningly close to my cervix. All systems are go! Baby is measuring 4 lbs. 13 oz. (right on schedule!). We were able to see the face way better than the picture shows and I think it has Marshall's face shape and chubby cheeks... looks like we might get our little "Marsha" after all! Jesse says: "If it's a boy, it's the prettiest boy I've ever seen!"

Baby was being so cute during the ultrasound, sucking on it's fingers and sticking it's tongue out! We even got to count all 10 toes!


We couldn't find anyone to take the kids so we had all of them in that little ultrasound room... yikes! They didn't seem too interested in the baby up on the screen but Marshall did seem a little concerned that someone other than him was touching my baby belly.

Baby had hiccups on Monday and Cooper got to feel them, it made him giggle :)

I just have to last 6 more weeks and then I can hold little baby #4! (and find out if it's a boy or girl!)