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Sunday, February 6, 2011
Friday, January 7, 2011
Friday, December 24, 2010
Saturday, July 31, 2010
OBX 2010
This year's trip to the Outer Banks was everything a beach vacation should be. It was filled with hot sunny days in the ocean, lazy afternoons at the pool, great food, crazy cousins, and lots of fun memories.
Spending time with all the Mattingley cousins is one of the best things about the beach. The kids look forward to "cousin time" all year. With 16 cousins to choose from, everyone manages to find some sort of mischief, I mean, fun.
Lauren loved collecting shells this year. Sitting in the shade with Grandpa, looking at the shells came in a close second.
Jackson loved playing in the ocean. He's getting pretty good at body surfing, and loved riding the waves up onto the shore. 
Dallin sported several different "looks" this year at the beach. This is a suit I bought for him last year, it has built in floaties--too bad it's about 2 sizes too small. He cracked everyone up with his, um... physique. 
Yes, we look forward to our beach trip all year long--and we were not disappointed.
Luke's Blessing
Luke Carter Mattingley blessed June 13, 2010
The night before Luke's blessing, Joel and I lay in bed talking about the next day. Joel pointed out that it is the beginning of the end. Wow! That sounds ominous! But he was right, we are starting a stage of life where we will be doing things for the very last time. Most likely, this is the last time that I will dress a sweet little baby in white, and watch my husband tenderly name and bless him. Knowing that, made Luke's blessing day even more special for our little family. We were blessed to share the day with family and friends, and we are so thankful to everyone who travelled to be here with us.
The Mattingley bunch--all members are present and accounted for.
Taking pictures after the blessing is always an adventure. Getting this many people together and smiling AND looking at the camera is a pretty tall order...
...well, we almost made it. What a good looking crew.
The Mattingley bunch--all members are present and accounted for.
Taking pictures after the blessing is always an adventure. Getting this many people together and smiling AND looking at the camera is a pretty tall order...
...well, we almost made it. What a good looking crew. Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Happy Birthday Claire!
For Claire's birthday this year, we spent the day celebrating with two of Claire's favorite things: bubbles & cake!
The kids had a blast with their new bubble wands, and Claire was in bubble heaven. She chased everyone down, laughing and popping as many as she could catch. It was a fun afternoon.
When everyone was "bubbled" out, we headed in for presents and cake. Claire loved her new dress ups, and her new bike. She spent the rest of her birthday cruising around the kitchen. And yes, she is in only a diaper--what can I say, she REALLY enjoyed her cupcake.
Spring Recap
So what happens after you bring home your fifth baby? Absolutely nothing! Well, actually that's not true, lots of things are happening, there's just no time to blog about it. So here is a recap of the last two months since Luke was born...
This spring, Lauren returned for another season of Mighty Mites soccer. What a difference a year makes! You may recall that last year soccer involved a lot of tears and drama, but this time she loved it. She has discovered her inner athlete, and loves to chase down the ball, and steal it from the other kids. She is really fast, and is already looking forward to soccer and T-ball in the fall.
This spring, Lauren returned for another season of Mighty Mites soccer. What a difference a year makes! You may recall that last year soccer involved a lot of tears and drama, but this time she loved it. She has discovered her inner athlete, and loves to chase down the ball, and steal it from the other kids. She is really fast, and is already looking forward to soccer and T-ball in the fall.
Luke survived his first few days at home. Lauren and Claire kept a constant vigil beside his swing, running to him anytime he made the slightest sound. Luke proved to be up to the challenge of 4 "loving" big brothers and sisters, and slept through it all. So far, Luke is very laid back. He doesn't seem to mind being poked, patted, hugged, and kissed.
He doesn't get much floor time, but he does love hanging out in his swing.
We also had two preschool graduations this year. Lauren's favorite part was throwing her cap up into the air after the program, and eating cake. (of course!)
Dallin's class also did a great job, singing songs and telling about their year in preschool. Not surprising, Dallin's favorite part of preschool was "snacktime."
Thanks Miss Tonya, and Miss Melissa!
No spring in the Mattingley house would be complete without a trip to the strawberry patch. The kids love picking strawberries, and this year was extra special because they got to go with Dad. They returned stained and sticky, and we spent the rest of the afternoon making our favorite strawberry freezer jam. The kids were a great help this year, crushing berries and measuring sugar. 
Jackson took over stirring the pectin this year.
We made 32 pints of jam in all, and we can't wait to enjoy it for the rest of the year!Sunday, May 23, 2010
A Baby Story
Another baby, another scheduled induction. I went back and forth, kind of wanting the full experience of waking up in the night with contractions, or having my water break, and having the convenience of scheduling the birth of our child. Believe me, I tried my best to go into labor on my own--hauling mulch, planting the garden, doing squats--but in the end, we induced.We got to the hospital at 7:30am, and got things started right away. Joel and I both predicted that the baby would be born by mid afternoon. 12 hours later we were still waiting. Our nurse checked me right before the shift change at 7pm, and I hadn't progressed at all. Nothing. Nada. I wanted to cry. Seriously! Who takes this long to deliver a 5th baby. Only me apparently. Luckily, things went fast after that and 45 minutes later we were in business. We had to wait a while for our doctor, but we finally got to meet our new baby boy. 
Luke Carter Mattingley was born Tuesday, May 11th just after 8:00pm. Weighing in at 10lbs, 4 oz. and 22 inches long. At first, things seemed routine, but just after cleaning him up, the doctors realized that something was wrong with our baby. You can see in this picture, the dents in his chest--this is called a retraction. Luke had aspirated during delivery, and was unable to fill his lungs with air. He was breathing 100 times per minute--basically panting. They let me hold him for just a minute, and then whisked him off to the NICU to try and regulate his breathing. I was still feeling the high of giving birth, and didn't realize how rough he looked. I remember holding him, and thinking he was the most beautiful baby in the world. When the nurses took him away, we didn't realize it would be almost a full day before we were allowed to see him again.
Once Luke got to the NICU, they began running tests. An x-ray showed something that looked like the beginning of an infection in his lungs. They hooked him up to all the monitors, and put an IV directly into his umbilical cord to start antibiotics. This picture is from the first time we got to visit him in the NICU. We were still not allowed to pick him up, but we could touch him and sit with him. That day, Joel and our home teacher were able to give him a special priesthood blessing. During all this time, the NICU doctors were busy ruling out a lot of scary things. We were still not sure what was going on. We were sleep deprived, and emotional, and it was a lot of information to take in. In addition to the breathing issue, and infection, the doctor had heard a heart murmur, and was concerned that Luke had a hole in his heart. Later, an echo cardiogram would rule that out. I was so thankful for the blessing that Luke had received, and the confirmation that everything would be OK.
Joel's mom brought the kids to visit the next day. Jackson and Lauren were able to scrub in and come into the NICU. They got such a kick out of wearing all the extra gear. Dallin and Claire were too little, so I took them down to the regular nursery, and they chose a baby from the window to claim as ours. :) Everybody got a chocolate milk, and had a great time "riding" my bed, and repeatedly calling the nursing station. oops!
At 4 am the second day, we were finally allowed to hold Luke. Even though I had held him for a minute after delivery, this was Joel's first time. It was very emotional for us to finally get our hands on him. It felt like we had been waiting forever to hold him, feed him and cuddle him. It was such a sweet moment for me, watching Joel hold Luke for the first time.
Luke Carter Mattingley was born Tuesday, May 11th just after 8:00pm. Weighing in at 10lbs, 4 oz. and 22 inches long. At first, things seemed routine, but just after cleaning him up, the doctors realized that something was wrong with our baby. You can see in this picture, the dents in his chest--this is called a retraction. Luke had aspirated during delivery, and was unable to fill his lungs with air. He was breathing 100 times per minute--basically panting. They let me hold him for just a minute, and then whisked him off to the NICU to try and regulate his breathing. I was still feeling the high of giving birth, and didn't realize how rough he looked. I remember holding him, and thinking he was the most beautiful baby in the world. When the nurses took him away, we didn't realize it would be almost a full day before we were allowed to see him again.
Once Luke got to the NICU, they began running tests. An x-ray showed something that looked like the beginning of an infection in his lungs. They hooked him up to all the monitors, and put an IV directly into his umbilical cord to start antibiotics. This picture is from the first time we got to visit him in the NICU. We were still not allowed to pick him up, but we could touch him and sit with him. That day, Joel and our home teacher were able to give him a special priesthood blessing. During all this time, the NICU doctors were busy ruling out a lot of scary things. We were still not sure what was going on. We were sleep deprived, and emotional, and it was a lot of information to take in. In addition to the breathing issue, and infection, the doctor had heard a heart murmur, and was concerned that Luke had a hole in his heart. Later, an echo cardiogram would rule that out. I was so thankful for the blessing that Luke had received, and the confirmation that everything would be OK. 
Joel's mom brought the kids to visit the next day. Jackson and Lauren were able to scrub in and come into the NICU. They got such a kick out of wearing all the extra gear. Dallin and Claire were too little, so I took them down to the regular nursery, and they chose a baby from the window to claim as ours. :) Everybody got a chocolate milk, and had a great time "riding" my bed, and repeatedly calling the nursing station. oops!
At 4 am the second day, we were finally allowed to hold Luke. Even though I had held him for a minute after delivery, this was Joel's first time. It was very emotional for us to finally get our hands on him. It felt like we had been waiting forever to hold him, feed him and cuddle him. It was such a sweet moment for me, watching Joel hold Luke for the first time. It was so funny to see Luke in the NICU next to all the little 2 and 3 lb. babies. The other parents would just stare into Luke's crib as they walked past. Our babies usually look big next to the others in the regular nursery, but compared to the NICU babies, Luke was ginormous!
Each day, Luke's appearance and health continued to improve. After 2 days, another x-ray confirmed the infection, and the doctor let us know that he would need to stay in the hospital for a full 7-days. This was Thursday, the day I was scheduled to be discharged. Joel and I were both dreading leaving the hospital without Luke. Luckily the NICU Dr. intervened. He made arrangements for me to stay unofficially in my same room until Luke could be transferred over to Pediatrics. We were so thankful for yet another blessing.
Saturday morning the nurses were finally able to get an IV into his hand, instead of his belly, and we were transferred over to Pediatrics for the rest of our stay. The IV was a little freaky, but it was much easier to move him around without all the wires and gadgets he had been hooked up to in the NICU.
Sunday after church, Joel and the kids came to visit, and they were finally able to hold Luke. It was a little crazy, but very sweet to see them hold and pat and kiss their new baby brother
Lauren, who has been most excited about Luke's arrival, was in baby heaven. She did not want to let him go, and stayed close by, even when someone else was holding him, just to supervise. Her face was priceless!
Even Dallin and Claire, who are not know for being gentle, were very careful as they held him. 
All the nurses came in to witness the chaos. None of them could believe that we actually had 5 kids. We were quite the talk of the unit during our stay. One of our night nurses was so in love with Luke, she brought a group of nurses to see how cute he was. Of course, we had to agree.
Each day, Luke's appearance and health continued to improve. After 2 days, another x-ray confirmed the infection, and the doctor let us know that he would need to stay in the hospital for a full 7-days. This was Thursday, the day I was scheduled to be discharged. Joel and I were both dreading leaving the hospital without Luke. Luckily the NICU Dr. intervened. He made arrangements for me to stay unofficially in my same room until Luke could be transferred over to Pediatrics. We were so thankful for yet another blessing.
Saturday morning the nurses were finally able to get an IV into his hand, instead of his belly, and we were transferred over to Pediatrics for the rest of our stay. The IV was a little freaky, but it was much easier to move him around without all the wires and gadgets he had been hooked up to in the NICU. 
Sunday after church, Joel and the kids came to visit, and they were finally able to hold Luke. It was a little crazy, but very sweet to see them hold and pat and kiss their new baby brother
Lauren, who has been most excited about Luke's arrival, was in baby heaven. She did not want to let him go, and stayed close by, even when someone else was holding him, just to supervise. Her face was priceless!
Even Dallin and Claire, who are not know for being gentle, were very careful as they held him. 
All the nurses came in to witness the chaos. None of them could believe that we actually had 5 kids. We were quite the talk of the unit during our stay. One of our night nurses was so in love with Luke, she brought a group of nurses to see how cute he was. Of course, we had to agree.
Although Luke's birth was nothing like we expected, it is full of sweet memories. Through it all we truly felt the love of our Heavenly Father, as day after day our prayers were answered. We are so thankful for all of our children, and the blessing it is to have each of them in our family. We couldn't imagine life without them.
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