Family Updates!

Life in San Diego has been so good to us!  I need to be better about blogging all of our fun times!!!

He likes him, I promise.

Tripp is loving life, as usual.  We had a rough little stretch with sleeping but that has pretty much passed now.  He's in his 'big boy' bed and has his special spiderman to keep him company at night!  Our next big step is potty training.  He's been ready for a while, but with school and pregnancy I just haven't put the time in to do it.  We bought our last pack of diapers and when we run out it's game on!  Wish us luck :)

Last little snuggle in our 'baby bed' aka... the pack-n-play

Showing off his new bed!!!

Michael has been working like a dog!  He really loves his new job (although it kicks his butt at times) and the people he works with.  We don't get to see him as much as we would like but life has been really good to us.  He is working for a company name Hensel Phelps who are the general contractors on a new Kaiser Hospital in San Diego.  Michael says he is burned out on pouring concrete and ready for the next phase of this build :)  We have loved working for this company so far and even though they work their employees hard, they see the importance of maintaining a quality of life plan.  I know that no matter what is going on at work, if I needed Michael in an emergency, his co-workers would drop their stuff and cover his so he could get to us... without a seconds hesitation.  It's been one of the most family-like work environments we have every experienced!

Christmas was so much fun!  Michael has several sisters out in Idaho and one of them could not get off of work for the Holidays.  The thing I love about his family is how important FAMILY really is to them.  Instead of leaving her on her own for the holidays, they packed up and drove out to Idaho!  We were lucky enough to be able to meet them for a few days in Salt Lake.  So!  After our first Christmas morning in our own home, we loaded up and hit the road.  Can I please just brag about Tripp for a second.... HE IS THE BEST TRAVELER EVER! Seriously.  The kid sleeps most of the time, colors, reads or plays puzzles on my phone for just about the rest.  Of course we do breakout the shows when things get a little rocky, but usually games and food keep him happy.  Okay, bragging done.  

Growing up Santa would touch our head with a sooty finger after he had set the presents out!
Yay for keeping traditions alive :)

He only gets mad in the car when I
try to take his picture... 

Tripp loves all of his aunts and uncles, but
Chris won the cake on this visit

my boys 

cutie pie :)

My stud of a husband!

Just missing Tamra!

As a lot of you know, we have baby #2 coming in the middle of March (I'm 31 weeks tomorrow)!!!  We officially decided to keep this one a surprise until delivery day and can't wait to see his/her sweet little face.  Can you believe we're almost to the middle of January?! March is going to be here before we know it... I'm so not ready!

Before we left for the our visit in Salt Lake I got an alarming call from our midwives.  Early on in this pregnancy some blood work showed I had an extra antibody (antibody E) popping up.  No one was concerned at the time but at my glucose testing they rechecked my levels.  It had quadrupled! At the time I had no idea what that meant (and neither did the midwives) but I was told to get the first available appointment with a perinatologist.  I was told this could be absolutely nothing or it could get bad.  I was put at ease by a specialist who reviewed my case and told me I was fine to wait after the new year (the first appointment they had available) to be seen.

At the appointment, this is what we learned.  Blood is tricky.  When you are caring another person they have their own blood type.  Most likely, Tripp has something in his blood that my body sees as foreign and bad (hence the presence of the antibody E) BUT my body didn't recognize it until I delivered him.  Some of our blood must has mixed, which isn't uncommon, and my body reacted to whatever it is he is caring, which isn't common.  

What does this mean now?  This new baby must have this same stuff in his/her blood that my body didn't like from Tripp.  My body now sees it as an enemy and is producing antibody E to fight it.  This means that I have to go every two weeks for blood testing to check the antibody level.  My antibody titer started at 1/2 and was 1/8 at the last blood draw.  at 1/16 they will do another ultrasound to check blood flow to the baby (which is what the did at the appointment I just had).  If everything is fine with the blood flow but my levels are still high then they'll probably draw blood more often and have regular ultrasounds.  Also, I will have an ultrasound at 37 weeks regardless of my levels.  If the blood flow is too high then this indicated sever anemia in the baby.  The next steps will be induction with special (antibody E free) blood waiting for baby and most  likely a blood transfusion, for baby, immediately after delivery.  The scariest part, for me, is that no matter what we see in ultrasounds or in my blood work, the baby is still at high risk for anemia and a blood transfusion when born.  

Right now we are all hoping for everything to remain normal: low levels, great blood flow, and delivery when baby is ready to come.  But Michael and I are preparing for baby to come sooner rather than later.  We've got the crib/ bassinet out, are making freezer meals, washing our gender neutral collection of clothes and knocking off the mountain of to-dos on our list.  

Our birth plan has changed so many times with this baby!  We started at a free standing Birth Center and then our insurance kicked them out of the network... Then we switched the UCSD Birth Center (which is in the hospital) until all of this happened.  Now we are with UCSD high risk doctors and planning to deliver in their Labor and Delivery unit.  It's been a crazy ride so far!

We're nervous, to say the least.  The majority of our nervousness is for the baby and making sure he/she gets her safely.  We're also nervous about what this means for having more kids in the future and I am nervous about having this baby in a hospital (which sounds silly, right?).  Tripp was born in a free standing birth center and for me it was an ideal birthing experience.  This is something new for me and not something I wanted... that being said, I am so grateful for modern medicine.  Did you know that if we had seen signs of anemia earlier in the pregnancy that they could give the baby a blood transfusion in utero?!  Now THAT is a miracle.  I'm also very confident in the doctors I have seen and that they will listen to me, my body and do what is necessary to keep this baby safe.  

We feel so blessed to have the support that we do in our new ward.  Although we haven't spread the word on everything that's going on (because hopefully nothing will actually happen), I know that we could count on our friends here to help us if we asked.  We 'just happened' to fall into the right place for our situation and for that I am so grateful to my Heavenly Father.  

Here's to 9+ weeks left of pregnancy and a healthy happy baby at the end!  

Love,

Madi, Michael, Tripp and Baby #2!!!

8 Months

Blog life stopped when Tripp was 8 months so I thought I'd add a few of the pictures from that time.  We had just moved to Long Beach, California (LA area) for an amazing internship that Michael received.  The company (Hensel Phelps) housed us in a modern loft about a block from the beach.  Tripp and I loved walking there just about everyday, going to the farmers market on Fridays, and sitting up at the pool.

                                  

As a side not- why has nobody ever said that California is not warm enough to swim in a non-heated pool?!  I tried taking Tripp in a couple of times and EVERY SINGLE TIME he started shivering and we had to leave.  It was cold!  Even I didn't want to swim!  Obviously, this does not apply to everywhere in California, but coastal (where you always see pictures of girls swimming in bikinis...) is not warm enough to swim!  At least not for me and Tripp :)

Anyways, We did a little sight seeing.  First we took a stroll down Hollywood Blvd and saw some of our favorite stars:

   

That day we also drove to see the Hollywood sign and the LA temple.

Tripp fell asleep and we didn't want to
wake him up for a hike to the sign.. so
we settled for a picture from the car  :)

It was a long long day for the little guy but he did great and really enjoyed being in the sunshine!

Here's a photo dump of Tripp at 8 months old!!!

We bought this map because our whole place
was concrete floors... This was his daily activity!

Watching for dogs :)

Poolside selfies

Almond Milk!  His favorite... until we realized
it was giving him stomach aches and keeping
him up all night  :/

Somebody was supposed to be sleeping...

Every mom does it at least once, right?!  He
would have made a beautiful girl ;)

Our big boy eater!

At this point in life, Tripp loved to make the spitting sound with his tongue, eat whatever we were eating for dinner, crawling EVERYWHERE and NOT sleeping through the night... He was still waking up at least once a night to eat, cuddle and then would go back to sleep.  We love this little guy!

Photo bomb!

Realized I haven't really posted pictures lately.  Enjoy the photo dump!

Kicked his leg out of his jammies while sleeping!
2/10/13

Testing out our new stroller
2/8/13

The cuties piece of laundry I've got!
2/13/13

Cuddling with his bear under the blanket  :)
2/13/13

Naked Baby!!!
2/22/13

Thanks Uncle Chris for my first piano!
2/22/13

Cell phone quality cuteness :)
2/24/13

6 month birthday with our favorite toy (at the moment)
2/22/13

                             

They're just

all so

cute!!!  3/1/13

Someone figured out how to move around in his bed...
3/15/13

Koala fun!
3/15/13

My favorite video of all times  :)

LIFE!!!

***forgot to post****

5 February 2013

I'm sitting here (1:15 am) trying to finish homework, getting some more laundry folded, and fighting the urge to look at nothing on facebook.  I know I have no time to blog but I simply have to put into words what is on my mind!

Tripp is getting so big.  5 months already and he's singing, flipping over with ease and eating everything that comes his way.  We've started solids and experimented with rice cereal and carrots.  So far he hasn't blatantly protested either!  I am pretty sure he has some teeth coming in, just by how fussy he's been and his frequent night wakings...

That being said... I'm so tired!  School is kicking my butt and Tripp is wearing me down.  I can't seem to get my house in order, dinners are more frequently consisting of steamable veggie bags, baked frozen chicken and rice if we're lucky.  There is no variety in our life.  All we are is school, diapers, laundry, and a little bit of bed....

I'm so tired and I need to change something soon or I'm simply going to burn out!

......complaining over.

love,
Madi

7 months

It's been a big week for little Tripp!  He's getting so big so fast and it's driving me crazy!  Here's a list of the AWESOME things he did this week:

Monday: looked cute
Tuesday: looked cute while yelling at me
Wednesday: pulled himself to a stand! ... while still looking cute and yelling at me
Thursday: Got up on all fours and did three crawls backwards! (quit the yelling but still looked cute)
                 and Daddy gave him applesauce... which he now LOVES.
Friday: turned 7 months old and wore Mommy down till she collapsed after bed time.

All in all I'd say he's been really busy this week!

Favorite things:

• squealing 
• rolling ALL OVER THE PLACE
• getting on all fours and rocking back and forth
• destroying his bed in protest of going to sleep
• Mommy's hair
• the brim of Daddy's hat
• Taking a bath in the big bath tub
• playing all by himself (he's decided I just get in the way...)
• Snuggling... but only when it involves trying to eat my face or play with my hair... that's still snuggling right?!
• Rolling, rolling, and more rolling

Not so favorite things:

• going to bed before he's ready (even if Mommy is SO ready...)
• trying to fall asleep in the bed he's destroyed
• when Mommy and Daddy let him fall under the water in the tub
• banging his head on random objects
• trying to fall asleep in the bed he's destroyed
• Not being able to crawl
• When Mommy and Daddy try to make him snuggle... or kiss him too much... or squeeze him too much... or in general, love him too much

Right now my big debate is about giving him pureed foods.  I had decided (and talked with our doctor) about waiting until he could eat finger foods before re-introducing solids.  I felt great about this simply because his little tummy has such a hard time digesting anything I give him.  I'm not a Nazi about it though.  He eats those little puff things and Daddy shares his applesauce... but I swear every time he eats, the poor thing gets backed up! And if you've ever met a baby who hates not being about to go to the bathroom... multiply that by 10 and you've got Tripp.  Honestly, the boy has loved pooping since the day he was born!  He went three times on me before we could even get him out of the tub, two more times when we were cuddling in bed, once on Michael while the Midwives were fixing me up and then ended the evening by going once when we got home.  All of this within the first 6 hours of his life.  That must be a record.

So what do I do?  He's getting to the point where he grabs our spoons, steals our dinners and eyes anything that looks remotely edible.  I was reading in my baby book (which I LOVE by the way...) that peaches and pears are great for helping relieve constipation.  But then do I really want to start him on fruits and him not eat vegetables?  Or do I wait until he gets a tooth (oh yeah... he still hasn't cut that stupid tooth on the bottom.  Curse you tooth!  Curse you!!!) to just start him on finger foods and hope his digestive system is up to par by then?  So... this is the debate I have every time I think about Tripp and food within the same sentence.  Again, why is there no manual with this baby?!!?!

As for sleeping.  

The little guy still wakes up every four hours to eat.  I know he's hungry (he still eats every four hours during the day) and falls right back to sleep after eating .. but I'm so tired!  Haha!  After working till midnight (almost every night) if not later on homework, I just want about 6 hours straight of sleep.  I have so many people telling me to just let him cry it out all night for as many nights as he needs to teach him to sleep through the night.  Here is my problems with that:

We used the 'cry-it-out' method with him for bed time and it was great!  I went back and forth for weeks about it before deciding it was the right thing (for us) to do.  Tripp, by 3 months old, had a really hard time sleeping with us.  He would wake up every two hours because of our noises and then would want to eat.  I KNEW he didn't need to eat that often because he'd go 3-4 hours during the day.  We moved him to his own room so that he could get comfortable there and then tried to decide our plan of action (while in his own room he would sleep about 3 hour stretches).  The first attempt of helping him self-sooth was to lay him down drowsy and then pick him up if he started to cry.  I did this ALL night long.  He would sleep for 30 minutes, realize I wasn't holding him and then wake up crying again.  So... I prayed and prayed and prayed about what to do.  He needed to sleep.  I needed to sleep.  Michael needed to sleep.  EVERYONE NEEDED TO SLEEP.  I decided to try the cry it out and took my decision to the Lord.  I felt REALLY comfortable with it so we decided to bite the bullet.  (let me just pause and say how weird it was to feel comfortable with letting him cry!  Everything about that goes against what a mother feels and to feel like it was okay was very strange.  It wasn't until later that I knew why!)  The night we laid him down I was really nervous.  Of course I kept my cool and acted like it was just like every other night for him.  We did our bath, baby oil rub down, fresh jammies, rocked in the rocking chair while reading a book, Daddy said 'goodnight' and 'I love you', and then we nursed.  Most nights he falls asleep while eating but I made sure to wake him just a little for when he laid down.  Then I kissed him, told him goodnight and that I loved him.  When I walked out of the room he started fussing.  When he worked into a cry we'd go in and say 'I love you but it's time to go night night.' and then walk back out.  He only worked into a cry 3 times and was asleep within 30 minutes   It was amazing!  The next day and night he went straight to sleep with 10-15 minutes of minimal protest and has been great ever since.  I think that is why I felt to comfortable with our decision.  Tripp was ready and knew how to go to sleep on his own, we were just getting in the way... So why not do this with sleeping through the night?  Nothing about it feels comfortable.  Yes I am tired and would enjoy a full nights sleep, but he is not ready to be sleeping more than 4 hours.  His little tummy gets empty and I'm not going to deny him the food he wants and needs.  Plus, the doctor said this is completely normal for his age!  Maybe soon I will change my mind but for right now we'll do our 3 feedings a night.

As for Michael and I, we're doing great.  We're so excited for California this summer and can't wait to get a taste of what working life is really going to be like.  Michael just approved for an extension on his internship so we will be there until school starts!  This is GREAT news because the alternative would have had him working up and down the Washington and Oregon coast with a group of guys harvesting crops for farmers.  Tripp and I would have flown back home to spend the month of August (which would be so much fun!) and we would have been apart for Tripp's first birthday (not so much fun...).  Now, we're just waiting to hear if we'll be in San Diego or LA.  Hopefully we'll be in San Diego so we can be close to Courtney and Joel for baby girl Croskey's birth!  Keep your fingers crossed

Also, we've started to get our bodies back.  This week I started running and Michael started seeing a nutritionist!  It's been so much fun exercising.  The guide I'm following will have me running 30 minutes straight by the end of 8 weeks... Yeah, I know it's kind of embarrassing that I can't run for 30 minutes right now, but whatever.  I've never run before, Tripp kicked my butt during pregnancy, and I have always hated exercising.  But, that is all changing and I'm looking into 5ks for this summer.  We just need to find out where we're going to be living so I can sign up for one!  Michael is loving watching what he eats and realized that he had already lost 10 pounds since Alaska before seeing the nutritionist!  Talk about motivation.  He wasn't doing anything in particular and the weight was already coming off.  It can only get better from here!

Well, I need to empty my camera so I can upload pictures!  I'm going to go back through this post soon and add them but for now all you will get is text.  :)  Well love you all!

Madi, Michael and Tripp

Tripp pulling up to a stand for the second time ever!!!

6 Months!

Can you believe it?!  Tripp is already 6 months old... I know I can't!  It's been a great, crazy, 'all over the place' half of a year!

6 Months old TODAY!
2-22-13

Tripp's Loves:

happy happy happy!

Chewing on EVERYTHING
Eating Mommy and Daddy's face
Rolling across the room (who needs crawling?)
Bath time
Squealing
Nose drops (or as Mommy calls them... Nose Droppies!)
Being tossed in the air
Spinning with Mommy
Being upside down
Drinking from my camelbak
Mommy's phone
and ANYTHING to do with Daddy

Things he hates:
Staying up too late
Being tickled
Teething
Baby Advil
Getting sick
Being ignored
When Mommy wont give him her phone
When Daddy goes to work (he literally breaks down)

"You really thought I was going to sit here AND smile?"

We decided 6 months of being indoors was long enough.  Tripp is old enough to go out, miss a nap (on occasion)  and enjoy the outdoors.  So... we planned a trip to go fishing!

Today was a beautiful day; the sun was out, the wind was absent and it was above freezing!  Michael and I went fishing for our first date so we only thought it was appropriate to have our first big outdoor outing with our poles in the water.  Plus, Michael has been wanting to learn how to fly fish and this was the perfect opportunity.

We drove up to Ashton (about 30-45 min north of Rexburg) and stopped at the river just south of the dam.  Our friends let us borrow their hiking backpack so it made life easy going up and down the snow-covered road.  The snow was stacked about 2 feet high but pack so tightly that we only sank about 6 inches.  Thank goodness because the little guy is so darn fat I think we would have died from exhaustion before we got to the river!  Mommy hiked him down and Daddy hiked him back!  :)

I didn't get to fish very much because Tripp was fussy (you try skipping a nap!) and needed my attention BUT we learned a few things:

1. When snow is involved you need something water proof (resistent only last about an hour) to sit on
2. Tripp loves snow
3. Daddy is REALLY bad a fly fishing... and needs to practice a lot

Snow!!!

4. Tripp's snowsuit needs to be let out
5. Mommy has turned into a pansy and can't cut a worm or put it on the hook (Gross and sad!)
6. Hats with brims are so so so fun!
and
7. WE LOVE SUN- SHINE!!!

We can't wait for the weather to warm up and to go camping.  Life outdoors makes us feel healthier, happier, and more in tune with the spirit... just wish we could catch more fish!!!

Honestly, I'm not sure if he enjoyed it as much as us...
This is the face he had the whole time.