Labor Day

This is Athena's post about her and Ben's trip to visit us over Labor Day.  I just copied and pasted it here so I don't have to blog about it.  Thanks Athena for the blog post!  And thanks for coming to visit- it was so fun to have you guys here!

Labor Day in Hermiston

In August my poor sister Emily had to have an emergency c-section while she was at Education Week in Utah. She lives in eastern Oregon and had to deliver so quickly that my brother-in-law Darren didn't even have time to get there. He had to watch the delivery via Skype and then fly down the next day. Then her baby was in the NICU for ten days and the whole experience was crazy and stressful. I thought she'd arrive home and not want to see anyone for months, but when my mom drove her home to Oregon and she invited us to come visit for Labor Day, I couldn't say no.

Ben basically studied for the GMAT the whole weekend, except on Sunday when he made Paul get out his Lego collection and they built an epic fortress.

Teddy climbing in the garden, like he does. He ate his weight in tomatoes off of Emily's plants. The kid has an addiction.

The highlight of Emily's house (for my kids anyway) is the sandbox aka an area on the side of the house where the grass doesn't grow. 

My kids played there with Gabe for HOURS. Also, their faces in this picture are awesome.

Post-sandbox baths

 Ben is a decent self-taught photographer, so Emily had him show her how to take a few newborn shots. Sweet baby Luke was so cute in them.

This photo is blurry, but is showed what we did most of the weekend- we sat on the couch and watched BYU football and Fixer Upper. I love watching decorating shows with my sisters and mom. Emily and my mom were so fun to be around.

Nayeli's photo of cute and hilarious Gabe

 Did I mention Teddy has a tomato (and salsa) addiction?

Ben playing Paul's trumpet and reminiscing on his own days in Junior High band.

We didn't get out much since Emily had a new baby and was still recovering, but one day we went to lunch at a fun restaurant in town. The portions were huge, but so were our stomachs so we didn't complain :)

 Mickey Mouse pancakes for the kids

Ben's gigantic omelet

 Nayeli and Gabe are becoming such cute friends and it's so fun to see.

 Nayeli loved baby Luke

She later asked me, "Mom, when we have another baby, can you have a girl baby?" Whoa. Luke was cute enough to make anyone baby hungry... but I think I'm still catching up on lost sleep from Teddy. All in good time, Yeli girl, all in good time :)

Thanks Emily and Darren for a fun weekend! 

Business

Opa was a great business man.  My dad is a great business man.  And the trait has been passed onto my kids- the boys at least.  Paul and Kyle are ALWAYS trying to find ways to make money.  They are always bringing up ideas of ways to make money.  Here is the latest flyer that Kyle and his friend Joey have come up with.  They printed off the following paragraph onto papers and went door to door handing them out today.  Kyle has been so excited about it.  I took him to Walmart to buy a leaf rake.  He insisted on paying for it because it is for his business.  When we got home I had the privilege of being their first customer!  They did a great job!  It's true- they are very mature for their age!

Joey and Kyle Services

Is your front/back yard covered in leaves? If you answered yes to that question then you got to call the Joey and Kyle Services! We are responsible 9 3/4 and 11 years old. We are very mature for our age and we can work hard! We get the job done fast and easy, for only $4.00 per hour. Open Monday-Saturday.
Call or text 208-501-3752

How it Rolls

I swear, every time I get discouraged, my kids do something wonderful.  Last night I had a rough night with Luke and was up till the wee hours of the morning.  I went back to bed around 6 am.  When I woke up I looked at my phone and it was noon! Not even kidding!  Luke was sleeping with me.  But where was Gabe? Playing Minecraft on the computer, oh, since like 8 in the morning.  So that's like 4 hours of Minecraft for a 3 year old.  What kind of mom lets their kid do that??!! Well,  this mom with a newborn baby, that's who. Gabe has been having so much electronic time since... well, since I had morning sickness.  I try to limit the screen time as much as possible but it's so hard.  I remember being so concerned about Paul watching Finding Nemo twice a day.  Or Ellie and Kyle watching Baby Einstein on repeat while I try to catch a nap or get something done. But I think they are turning out amazing.  They brought home their report cards today and well, I guess all that screen time didn't rot their brains out!  Nothing less than an A- on any of them. I am so proud of them! 

Encouraged

Well, just after I posted that quote about getting discouraged as a mom my kids got their test scores from the end of last year from the Oregon state tests.  Their results were amazing!  I guess I must be doing some things right.  Either that or my kids are just amazing.  Maybe it's both.

Here are Paul's

  

Ellie's

 And Kyle's

AMAZING KIDS!!

Cute Pictures

Did I tell you Ben gave me a photography lesson while he was here with Athena?  I have to say, I am a good student! I love the pictures I took!  Check them out.

Hospital Photo Shoot

I love these sweet pictures taken in the hospital.  There was a photographer that went around and took pictures.  I didn't get that done with my other kids and regretted it.  So this time I got some pictures.  I love them. 

Physical Limits

When you hear that having a C-Section is a hard recovery, you don't REALLY realize that having a C-section is a hard recovery until you've had one.  Then you understand why everyone says the recovery is HARD.  It's also long and slow.  I can not believe the toll it has taken on my body.  I feel like my body has been healing in slow motion.
If you have a C-Section planned this is what you can count on.

Count on being in agonizing pain the first 2-3 days.  Getting out of bed is comparable to getting run over by a truck.  Don't even think about sneezing or coughing or laughing.  Crying is Ok.  Which is a good thing because you will probably be doing a lot of it.

After the first few days it goes from agonizing pain to really bad pain.  That lasts for a full 2 weeks.  I can not believe they send women home after 3-4 days.  You can not do a thing at 4 days!!

Week 2-3 is still bad- but you can tell your body is just beginning to heal.  With all my other baby's I have taken pain meds for 1-2 days.  I always have a bottle of Lortab left over cause I never need to take them all.  Not this time! Not even close.  I used every one of those babies.  And I even needed more.  I ended up taking pain killers for 3 weeks.  And let me just say- I'm not a baby.  At least I don't think I am.     

Weeks 3-5 you feel like your incision is a burn.  It hurts all the time.  It's not really bad- just kinda painful.

Week 5 you might think your ready to work out!  Don't be fooled.  I felt half-way normal and decided to workout after 5 weeks.   You know what happened?  My incision cracked open and a stitch from inside came poking out!  For reals people! It was the creepiest thing to have 2 inches of fishing line looking sutures poking out through my incision.  I texted my doctor and he said to just cut it off and cover it with a band-aid.  I decided to take it easy for another week.

Week 6 is when you can plan on seeing real improvement.   They tell you this from the beginning, but if you are like me- you think your really tough and you'll heal so much faster than every other women who's had a c-section. You won't.

I am now at week 7 and continue to feel better- but I still don't feel quite normal,  My back hurts all the time and my body just feels wrong.  I'm extremely inflexible and feel so weak.   When I do work out it just accentuates the weakness.  When I run it's more like a duck waddle.  The first time I ran it was last week at a 18 min. mile.  I went 1 mile then walked a mile.  Then I was at a 16 min. mile. and then a 15  min. mile.    I get so tired so fast.  If I work out I am too tired the rest of the day to get anything done.  It's very frustrating.  I did a 30 min. leg workout last week and could hardly walk for 2 days!   I have hope that working out will help me feel stronger and better sooner.

My friends who have had a C-Section all feel the same way I do.  They have all told me it was a long and hard recovery for them too. 

 It amazes me that C-Sections are such a common surgery.  I mean- it is a SERIOUS surgery! How can there be so many woman who have had this done??!  You get your uterus ripped open- and you feel it! The first 3 weeks I kept thinking- "I feel like I got my insides ripped out, oh wait, I did."

Oh, and can I add the- tiredness of no sleep at night and pain of breastfeeding on top of the uterus ripped open pain? Not to mention the morning sickness, getting fat, heart burn, hobbit feet, back pain, labor, messy house, etc. etc. etc.  Why do mothers do this?  I can tell you.  Because when you hold your baby the world melts away and the love you feel for your baby overcomes it all.  Nothing else matters.  Your heart feels like it just might burst.  I would do it all again in a heartbeat for my precious baby.  And if your a mom, I know you would too.