Kyson Goes To The Dentist

Kyson had his first dentist appointment. He was a rockstar! He had been looking forward to his appointment for a week. He even practiced opening his mouth BIG and kept talking about how the dentist would be "proud" of him.

Scrub-a-dub-dub! And good news......no cavities! Whoo hoooo!

Lots of Love

Do you think we love our new baby?

Well, we do. Shayli has been showered with love for her first two months of life. She has been sleeping in a cradle by my side at night and we just started putting her in her bedroom this past week. Milestone. I was so anxious to get Kendri and Kyson in their own rooms. Mainly because I didn't sleep well with all the snorting, grunting and flailing that they did. But Shayli is pretty quiet.

And I have a secret.

I bring her back to bed with me in the wee morning hours. I pretend it's because Kyson will wake up and climb in her crib with her. But really it's because I like to listen to her quiet breathing next to me. Without fail, she'll reach out her little hand and lay it on my arm and her squirming will stop. And I'll breathe her in. Then we'll both fall asleep. Warm and toasty and snuggly. I like to think it's because, for now at least, I am her world. And I love it!

School Memories.....

Happy Back-to-School.....here is my tribute to the new school year. A quick stroll down memory lane.

Hope you enjoy!

I was taking a health class at BYU my senior year. It was a large classroom in an auditorium. It started in the morning and I liked sitting in the upper portion of the room. And so I did every class period. And every class period I would nod off. Without fail. I had a notebook full of scribbles......literally. My pen would dutifully start the sentence and by the third or fourth word there would be a squiggle mark that would cross the lines of my notebook and finally take a nose dive off the paper. My hand falling from my desk would jolt me awake. I would then crack open an eye and realize what had happened and once again start a new sentence and the vicious cycle would continue. I couldn't stay awake. And it wasn't from lack of effort. It was from lack of sleep.






So this particular morning, I had decided to take good notes. I did want a good grade after all. I sat in my usual seat. Things went well for the first part of the morning, but after 15 minutes I felt the usual lethargy setting in. NO! I would not succomb. My resolve lasted a mere 60 seconds before it was shattered. Lulled into dreamland by my professors soothing voice I allowed myself to drift.........and was rudely awakened by a loud question. The problem with drifting in and out of consciousness is that you have no idea what is going on. I frantically tried make sense of my jumbled notes. When that didn't work, I tried to string together a few of the words that were floating through my subconcience. Nada.








Some know-it-all was trying to answer the question but the professor was cutting him off saying he wanted someone else to answer. The girl up there wearing the yellow shirt. Huh? Was the professor actually looking at me? In this huge classroom full of students and did he say "yellow"? Hard to tell, sitting clear up in the nose bleed section. Surely not. I hadn't heard him ever call on a student before unless their hand was raised and mine was safely taking "notes". I glanced down at my bright yellow Dole Hawaii shirt. Neon. Perhaps a bad choice for the day. I looked up in time to hear a girl a few rows in front of me answering the question. She was wearing a pale buttercup shirt. He, he, he. Saved. I silently thanked my lucky stars because deep down I knew it was me the professor had wanted to stump.







But Professor I-Forgot-His-Name wasn't finished with me yet. He asked another question followed by, "Let's let the girl up there answer this one. Wearing the bright yellow shirt." I looked around me hoping someone else would mistakenly answer the question again. No such luck. I stared at him, mutely. Because I had no idea what to say. I couldn't even come up with a guess. He politely repeated the question and stared back at me. After an eternity, he turned it into a simple multiple choice question.






"Yes or no?"



I ventured a guess...."Yes."






At this point, classmates were turning around to snicker at the dumb girl in the yellow shirt.






"How many of you think the answer is 'yes'?" says Professor I-want-to-humiliate-you.



I looked around the classroom. Not a single hand was raised. I felt like I should've repeated kindergarten.







"How many of you think the answer is 'no'?"






I don't need to tell you the entire class raised their hands. An auditorium full of smart, attentive students. Minus one.





Me.





Ah, the memories. I vowed right then and there to mend my ways. I don't remember if I did. But I think I tried. ;)

Shayli's Blessing

We blessed Shayli right before Grandma Suzette and Pa headed back to Colorado (July 31). I know I'm totally late posting this. I could back date it, but then I'm afraid September will come up with no posts! I'm trying to get motivated to keep my blogging up to date. Anyway, doesn't she look beautiful? I loooooove the blessing dress. It's the same dress that Lexi and Kendri were blessed in. It's practically an heirloom already :) After church, we had the family all come back our house for a celebratory barbeque.

Overall, it was very nice and the girls loved having their cousins come to their house to play! (The one downer, we missed the Maxfield's! Boo!)

Dare I Say It?

Kyson (drum-roll please) is potty-trained! Woot, woot! I would be lying if I said it was easy and quick. It wasn't. I thought we may be turned down at kindergarten time due to "lack of maturity." Thankfully, we will be allowed to enroll him when the time comes ;)

Surprisingly, Kyson turned the corner right after Shayli was born. I guess he decided he wasn't the baby anymore! And the final leap of actually using the potty at the correct time happened after I meanly "grounded" him for pooping in his underwear for the umpteenth time. He wasn't allowed to have playdates or eat anything yummy (cookies, candy, ice cream, popscicles, etc.) If you know Kyson, you know this is akin to chopping off a toe. But he made it through 2 days and the next time he had to poop, it happened in the right place! And we haven't had a problem since. Way to go, Kyson!

Lost Tooth

Somebody's getting to know the Tooth Fairy! After years of waiting, (Yes, I said years. Lexi was expecting her teeth to start falling out in kindergarten.) we finally had something to put under the pillow! Yahoo! I don't think I have to tell you how excited Lexi was......the toothless smile says it all!

Delivery Details

While I was in the hospital waiting to have Shayli, I wrote some of the details down so I could remember them. This post is mainly for my own records. So when my brain is totally fried from my 4 kids and I can't remember who is who, I can go back and have an account that isn't completely fabricated.......so read on at your own risk!

Quick background.....I had a doctor's appointment on Thursday, July 14th. During my appointment, Dr. Young checked me and there was progress (dilated to 3 cm and 60% effaced). My due date was July 17th. I mentioned that I was worried I would go into labor on the 16th when Ryan was supposed to be picking my mom up at the airport. My doctor is very easy going and really likes planned deliveries. He gave me the option of setting up an appointment to be induced. At that point I had decided I would never have the baby on my own. Ever. I imagined being pregnant while Shayli grew. And then celebrated her 12th birthday.........in my womb.

I very hastily agreed to be induced the next morning at 8:00am.

We arrived right on time. I was having very small contractions on my own already. Dr. Young broke my water to see if we could throw me into full fledged labor without the pitocin. We gave it 2 1/2 hours while I walked. Okay, I'll admit it. I broke the rules and snuck out of the hospital. I don't see how anyone can get a decent walk going inside the hospital. (I felt like a criminal. Really. I hid around the corner when I thought I saw my doctor outside on the phone. It wasn't him. But as Ryan pointed out, they weren't going to arrest me!) Anyhoo, I managed to dilate to 5 cm, but I was still sporadic with the contractions. We decided to speed things up. I had requested a 24 hour discharge if everything went according to plan (meaning no complications.) Here are my notes starting at that point (with some additional thoughts/embellishments that I didn't have time to add while I was in the hospital and enduring labor pains.)

Started on pitocin around 11:30 am. Foreign nurse from Brazil won't let me eat my lunch. She's worried I'll puke. I'm hungry. I asked to eat earlier just so this exact scenario didn't happen and they told me it wouldn't be a problem! The other nurse told her to give me my watery soup and roll. Thank you, Nurse Cheryl.

Been on pitocin for an hour. Contractions every 3-5 minutes. Starting to hurt. Can't talk through them. Waiting for pain meds (intrathecal). No one is in any hurry. Excited to meet our new baby girl. (Hope she has hair!)

Just asked for my intrathecal. I'm at a 7 and people seem surprised. It's about 12:45. The nurse told me I didn't look like I was that far along because my face is calm and I'm not moaning (like the woman down the hall.) Please. She didn't see my puckered face during the last contraction, but I AM soundless.

Was just informed that the anesthesiologist is in surgery and it is taking longer than expected. Translation: there may not be pain meds. Wondering how on earth you schedule a planned delivery and still manage to not get the pain meds. Trying to stay focused and remembering that I CAN do natural childbirth because I've done it before. Felt the need to push while on the exercise ball. Ryan's squeezing my hips during contractions and, for whatever reason, it is a big help but still painful.

The anesthesiologist is on his way! It is about 1:15 or 1:30 pm. I'm told to use the bathroom to empty my bladder before they give me the intrathecal. I think this is a terrible idea but I go along with it. I think it is time to push but no one thinks to check me before I head into the bathroom. I hobble in. Can't pee. Start to panic because at one point I am convinced that the baby is falling into the toilet. I start to survey the bathroom floor to see if there is room to deliver a baby. There is, thanks to the walk-in shower. I miraculously make it back to the bed (with Ryan's help) where I am given my pain meds during a full-on contraction. Ouch. And then (finally!) checked for dilation. I am at a 10. Again, everyone is surprised but me. No mention of the head crowning. No one seems in a hurry or feels any urgency except me. Am I crazy????

Starting to push which helps with the pain since the intrathecal hasn't had time to take effect. Second contraction with the meds and I notice the effect was starting to kick in. Hallelujah!

The nurse set up the squat bar for me. Third contraction with the meds. I push. Then I start yelling, "Oh my gosh! The head is coming! The head is coming! The head is OUT! The head is out!" The pain meds have been in effect for approximately 10-15 minutes.

All of this while the the nurses and doctor are wandering around the room getting "ready". The doctor wasn't ready. No gloves, no hat. We're lucky he was in the room. I slowly and carefully laid back down. Because there is.......ah, ahem......a head I need to watch out for. Doctor Young put on gloves and finished the delivery. The cord was wrapped around her neck twice but not tightly so there was no distress. Shayli Janae Reese born at 1:57 pm weighing 7.13 and measuring 20.5 inches long! Phew!

And PS...

Just for the record. My doctor is not incompetent (and neither are the nurses) and I actually really like him. I just managed to catch him off guard! Overall, it was a very interesting delivery and different from any of the others! And I totally recommend the squat bar. ;)