Toys on the roof

Mom's comment prompted me to tell about the toys on the roof issue. Earlier this week while I was talking to mom on Skype, Ian and Tyler came into my room and asked if I could get on the roof. I couldn't possibly imagine why I need to go onto the roof. They informed me that they through Ian's football on the roof and wanted me to retrieve it. I explained that getting on roofs was a job for dad and he could probably get it down this weekend. About fifteen minutes later, they were running through the house searching. Curious, I asked them what they were doing. Ian explained that they were looking for a tall ladder to retrieve the football. I let them know that this was not a good idea and dad would help later. So off they went. A few minutes later, they came back into my room and told me they had a problem. They thought it would be a good idea to throw Matchbox cars at the football. You see, they wouldn't get stuck on the roof since they have wheels. The cars would just roll down the roof, hit the football (knocking it off the roof), then come off the roof themselves. However, to their dismay, that is not what happened. So now, not only do they have the football on the roof, there are about seven matchbox cars up there as well. Every day this week, they have tried to convince me to go onto the roof. Well, last night I was sitting on my bed feeding Garrett. The window was open and something came flying in and hit the curtain, nearly knocking me in the head. Nathan ran to the window to see what was going on. Ian and Tyler really want the football off the roof, so Ian threw his shoe at it to try to knock it down. Unfortunately, Ian is not a good aim, so the shoe did not knock the football off the roof. Fortunately, Ian is not a good aim so his shoe did not get stuck on the roof as well. I am also glad that the window was open, or we might have had to replace a window as well as retrieve the football and cars off the roof!

Up in SMOKE

I have decided that I am WAY too old to have children. Ian has given me many life experiences. Quite a few have occurred in the past year. I realize that every child goes through mischievous stages in their lives, but holy cow!!!


Today began as a typical Wednesday. I went to work and was actually having a very busy day. We were having production issues and I was right in the middle of it. At around 11:30, I received a phone call from Nancy. Normally she does not call unless it is something urgent, so I stopped everything and answered. She started with "I don't want to alarm you, and everyone is ok"...... My heart began pounding..... "Ian and Cameron were in the back yard and it caught fire". My heart sank. "The fire department came and everything is fine" .... "The fire chief sat the boys down and had a long fire safety talk with them"....

Now, what am I supposed to think. Here I am at work and I get a call that my 6 year old started the back yard on fire. Shortly after the call, I received a picture of the damage.


On my way home, I called everyone I could think of to ask them what kind of punishment would fit the crime.

I got home and surveyed the scene before talking to Ian. For reference sake, the burned site area is about as many square feet as mom and dad's house.




When I went in to talk to Ian. Here is what he told me:

Cameron found a lighter on the barbecue and thought it would be cool to light things on fire. Ian agreed. They decided that it would be best if they went behind the barn so that no one will see them. Ian wanted to light a raspberry on fire. Cameron suggested the grass. They started with a little fire and quickly put it out. (mind you, we have not had rain in quite awhile and the grass is extremely dry). They decided that they wanted to try it again. This time when the grass caught fire, it got a little out of control. They panicked and tried to find something to put it out..... AH HA!! Squirt Guns!! Hmmm, that didn't work. Crap! Now they had to go tell the adults. Tyler had come around the corner and Cameron told him to go get grandma. Grandma called 911. Grandpa and David came running. David tried to stomp out the flames, but his rubber sandals started to melt. Grandpa grabbed the hose, but it wasn't long enough. By the time the fire department showed up, the fire had been doused. They inspected the site to ensure that nothing would flare up. Nancy asked them if they would talk to the boys. The fireman explained to them that playing with fire is dangerous. Someone could have been hurt badly, even killed. They could have burned down the house or the neighbors house. They left us with a fire safety book and promised that a fire lieutenant would call us in about a week to see if we had any questions.

After he explained what had happened, I asked him what he thought his punishment should be. He explained that grandma had grounded him from the TV, computer and Wii for the day. I asked if he thought that was enough punishment. He sat there thinking for a bit, then said "no, I think I need to be grounded from those things for a week". I accepted his punishment, gave him a hug and made him promise not to play with fire anymore. He agreed and promised to tell on anyone that was playing with fire.

Between spray painting the dog, knocking his tooth out by running into a fence and catching the yard on fire, this year has already been a doozy. Only four months to go!!!

Harry Potty ..... I mean Potter

For the last week it has been extremely hot here in the Great Northwest. Yesterday we hit 100 degrees with about 55% humidity (yes mom, I know it isn't as bad as the Philippines!). The problem up here is that no one has air conditioning in their homes, including us. We decided that it was a perfect opportunity to go to the movies in the cool air conditioned theater. I took Ian to swimming lessons then we went and picked everyone up for the movie. Nancy, David, Tyler, Ian, Garrett and I were very excited to finally be cool.

Ian is notorious for drinking way too much before and during a movie so that he has to go to the bathroom several times throughout. The first potty break came about 45 minutes into the movie. I reluctantly got out of my seat and walked him to the men's room. Like clockwork, 45 minutes later, he needed to go again. So this time I begrudgingly walked him to the men's room. When we got back, Garrett had become tired of being good. About 20 minutes later, I was standing with Garrett at the back of the theater when Ian informed me he had to go again. We walked out of the theater and Ian took off running. I casually followed him. I waited outside of the men's room for what felt like an hour. Finally I heard a faint cry.... "Mom, I need some help in here!" I lovingly explained that I could not go into the men's room and he needed to figure things out on his own. A few seconds later I heard sobbing in the men's room. Now the dilemma, do I attend to my son or stand outside with my sleeping baby....
A teenager (about 15) walked out of the men's room. I politely asked him if there was anyone inside. He told me no and I jumped right in. I found Ian in the bathroom stall crying. I went inside and saw what the issue was. Ian had gone #2. This was no ordinary poop, it was an everlasting poop. The kind that no matter how many times you wipe, it NEVER comes off. Ian had valiantly tried to clean it up himself, but in the process managed to smear poop all over his bottom cheeks, partially up his back and all over the toilet seat. I had left the diaper bag in the theater so I didn't have wipes to aid in the clean up. So with sleeping Garrett in my left arm I had Ian give me wads of toilet paper so that I could get things cleaned. Cleaning up was not easy using cheap theater 1-ply toilet paper and only having one hand. I managed to get poop all over that hand, but did get him cleaned up. As Ian is pulling up his pants, a movie had just finished and men were coming in to relieve themselves. One right after another.... Ian was asking me questions about the movie. I tried to keep him quiet since a woman's voice in the men's room would probably not go over well. I looked down at my feet and saw ten toes brightly painted red with pink and brown flip flops. I tried to move my way back into the stall further so that my girly toes would not been seen. Ian kept talking, Garrett was still sleeping and my hand still had poop on it! After about ten minutes, things seemed to get quiet. I knew that there were two men in the stalls, but no one was at the urinals or the sinks. I told Ian to go out and double check that the coast was clear (we needed to get the show on the road before the next movie ended!). Ian checked and no one was out in the open. He yells "Mom, the coast is clear!". I hurriedly ran out of the men's room and went straight into the ladies room to clean my hand. By the time that we got back to our seats, the movie had only 10-15 minutes left. I stood in the back with Garrett hoping that no one could smell the poop stench radiating from my hand. (I swear I washed it ten times and felt like I still could smell it!) The movie ended and, you guessed it, Ian had to go to the bathroom!

Needless to say, I will be going to Harry Potter, without children (at least Ian), so that I can find out the details that I missed!

Time to UPDATE!!!!!

Ok, so I have to be the biggest slacker in the world. I have not posted since April!

May 25th, I was hospitalized with a blood pressure of 170/122. After what seemed like a year of being on bed rest, my doctor decided that it was time to have the baby. I was induced on May 26th at about 11am. I delivered our beautiful baby boy on May 27th at 1:37am. The delivery went alright. I was given an epidural, however it didn't take. I was actually surprised that it didn't hurt as much as I thought it would. Nathan and Nancy were there for the delivery. Nathan even cut the cord! The baby didn't respond as quickly as I would have liked, but after a bit he began crying. I had some pretty major hemorrhaging after the delivery. I didn't regain my strength for a few days after the delivery.
Patrick Garrett Krambule was 7lb 13oz, 20 inches long. We will be calling him Garrett after much contemplation! I was beginning to think that he was going to have an identity crisis.

Getting ready for the big moment!

Ian was very nervous about what was going on. He was concerned for his mom!

Proud Big Brother!

There were a few issues after we took him home. He had severe jaundice. We took him for blood work everyday and finally went into the hospital for IV treatment. But it finally cleared up enough that his doctor was happy.
I have forgotten how difficult it is having a newborn. I am way too old to not get any sleep. Fortunately, Nathan took two weeks of "Daddy Bonding Time" to help me through the transition.

Christy, Nathan's sister, had her baby one week before Garrett was born. Her name is Addison Elizabeth Haag. It has been fun watching the two of them grow together.

Addison and Garrett

On June 16th, Ian graduated from kindergarten. Nathan, Garrett and I went to his school celebration. He was so proud of his accomplishments. Nathan and I were also so happy since we were a little worried with the lack of motivation Ian has had since the beginning of the school year.



We had the opportunity to go to Vegas to see the family and so that everyone could meet Garrett. It was great fun, very hot and way too short. All of my brothers and sisters were able to see Garrett. We also went and spent time with Granny. On Thursday, we all (except Smitty) went to lunch in Green Valley.




I started back to work on July 10th. Garrett was 6 weeks old. It has been very difficult to go back. With all of the sleepless nights, I am not functioning as well as I would like. I have a hard time getting up and leaving Garrett and Ian. Ian keeps telling me that I need to call in sick so that I can stay home and play. I WISH!

On Tuesday, July 21st, I took Garrett in for his 8 week checkup and vaccinations. He is now 22 1/2 inches and weighs 11lb 15.5oz. No wonder I am having back pains! Garrett started smiling about 1 1/2 weeks ago and loves to play. Ian is warming up to his little brother whom he refuses to call Garrett. Ian thinks it is wrong to call a kid by their middle name. He lovingly calls him Patrick. Ian went with me to Garretts appointment because he wanted to see Garrett get his shots. He was anxious for the doctor to finish his check up so the nurse could get down to work. As soon as Garrett got the first shot and the scream filled the room, Ian dropped down behind the bed and started to get tears in his eyes. He did not like to see and hear his little brother in pain. It touched me to see how much love siblings have for each other even at such a young age.

Everything is going well on the homefront. Nathan is doing extremely well at work. He is kept busy with all of the unruly people flying. It is awesome that he loves his job! The house remodeling has been put on the back burner ever since Garrett was born. Nathan and I are both so exhausted that we can barely walk half the time.
I will try to keep posting on a more regular basis now that I am not confined to a bed and finally feel good!

Patrick Garrett

Well, it has been a while since I last posted. This bed rest thing is not so fun. On Thursday, I went to my OB. He did all of the necessary tests for making sure that things are on track. When he measured my uterus, he commented "hmm, big baby". I questioned him as to why he said that. He told me that my uterus is measuring four weeks bigger than it should. My last appointment it had measured 1 and a half weeks bigger. I asked what could cause that. He explained that either Garrett is in the breach position or he is just a big baby. Fortunately, I had an ultrasound scheduled for the next day, so he said he will just wait to see what the results were there.

The ultrasound was a very fun experience. I am now 31 weeks and Garrett has enough weight on him that the 4-D turned out amazing. The sonographer did all of her measurements then took some play pictures. Garrett is not in the breach position and his measurements are right on track for 31 weeks. The only thing that she could see that is causing a bigger uterus is my amniotic fluid level is high. I will wait and see what Dr. Mitchell says about the fluid level...

However, this ultrasound we were able to see what he is going to look like. (and we checked to confirm that he is truly a boy!)

100th Day of Kindergarten

Speaking of the 100th day of Kindergarten. Thank you Natalie for reminding me. On the 100th day of kindergarten, Ian's class had many activities to celebrate. They counted to 100. They had to bring in 100 of something so that the class can see how many 100 items can be. Ian took in the sports shaped pasta that we made for a sample for McDonalds Japan. He also drew his award winning picture!!!

Well, when Ian came home, I asked him how his day was and what he did. He was so super excited. He told me all about the activities he did and that he was done. I did a double take and asked what do you mean you're done? He explained that since he has already had 100 days of kindergarten, he felt that he had enough education and he was done with school. He cried for about three days straight every morning when we told him he had to go to school.

A "Picaso" in the making

On Friday, March 6th, I received a phone call from Ian's former teacher Miss Noble. She called to congratulate Ian. On the 100th day of Kindergarten, they drew and colored a picture of themselves at school. Well, Ian's picture was submitted to the district and he won third place of all of the two-dimensional drawings in the kindergarten division. I am so proud of him and his accomplishments. I have a feeling that this is the first of many recognitions he will be receiving for his artwork!!

Dr. Seuss Birthday school activity

Ian started his new school on Wednesday, March 4th. He was very nervous about going to a new school and not knowing anyone in his class. But of course, he came home already making a new friend named Chace. On Thursday, the school celebrated Dr. Seuss' birthday by throwing a party. I took Ian over to the school Thursday night to go to the party. He was able to get his face painted, make a hat, he received a free book, and met lots of kids. I think this new school situation will be easier than Ian thought.

Here we go again!!

On Wednesday, March 4th, I started monitoring the contractions I was having. They were coming very consistent at about 1 hour or less apart. While talking to mom on the way home from work, she strongly convinced me to call my doctor and let him know about the contractions. I called the doctor and told them that I have had 12 contractions so far that day (it was about 2:30 pm). They told me to go to the Labor and Delivery center at the hospital to be monitored. I was definitely not ready for this. I spent many long hours, days, weeks..... in Labor and Delivery with Ian. I do not want to do it again with Garrett. Nathan had already left for work. I called him sobbing and he left right away to go with me to the hospital. I called mom and she was ready to get on a plane to come up to Washington. D'Orr called Brother Anderson to come over to give me a blessing. They gave me a blessing before heading off to the hospital. Nancy and D'Orr drove me to the hospital and Nathan arrived at the same time. (I think he was speeding a bit in rush hour traffic. He also took the carpool lane, but I was glad he was there.) I checked into the hospital and the memories came flooding back. They hooked me up to the fetal monitors. Garrett was very active. It was nice to hear him moving and hear his heart beating. They monitored me for about two hours. Then they checked my cervix to make sure it was still closed. They explained that I needed to follow up with Dr. Mitchell, but to continue with the modified bed rest until I saw him. I go in to see Dr. Mitchell on Thursday. He will be doing the fetal fibronectin test every two weeks from here on out. This is going to be an eventful last three months. (if I make it three months!)

"Tag" you're it

Yesterday, I arrived at my in-laws to pick Ian up after work. He was sitting on the chair in the corner without a shirt and his arms folded. I dared to asked what happened...

Apparently, Ian and Tyler found a can of green spray paint. Being a five and six year old boy, they decided to give it a try. They were in the back yard and began tagging. They painted the swing set, the grass, the wall. Ian spelled his name on the back of the shop. They sprayed each other as well. Ian had paint all over his shirt, jeans and shoes. Tyler had a nice green spot on his rear end. The dog, Jackson (a chocolate lab) is now camo dog with green spots all over his coat. Ian knew he was in trouble when the dog was spotted by Grandma...

The next morning, Ian and Nathan had a man-to-man about the incident. Ian told Nathan that he kinda had a little fun, but he knew he was in trouble when he saw the look on grandma's face!

Dakota

We found out on Wednesday that Dakota is in the hospital. He has been having some issues with his liver and his red blood cell count has been really high. He has also lost a lot of weight in the past month or so. He went in for an upper and lower GI on Wednesday and when they brought him out of anesthesia, he was not cooperative. The Dr was very worried about his response and admitted him into Mary Bridge Childrens Hospital. They are running a gammit of tests to see if they can determine what is going on. So far we don't know.

It's a ............... Well, maybe

Yesterday was the big day. ULTRASOUND. I have been looking forward to this appointment since I scheduled it on December 14th. Finally, we were going to see the baby and know what the sex is. Mom and dad flew up from Vegas. Ian ditched school. Nathan took a vacation day. I left work early. This was a big deal. So we arrive at the office and the sonographer said that the big ultrasound machine went down so we were going to be in the smaller room. Mom, dad and mom-in-law waited outside while Ian, Nathan and I went in for the ultrasound.

Of course, she took a ton of pictures and measurements to make sure of the progress and that all was well. We got to see the heart beat and hear it. Ian was facinated and asked a ton of questions. The baby was so cute... Towards the end of the ultrasound, the sonographer told Nathan to get the parents. We crowded inside the room and waited for the pivotal moment of the between the legs check.

Down she went..... Hmmm. The baby was not as cooperative as we would like. The baby decided that it was going to keep it's legs closed and be modest while the audience was gawking. The sonographer did a couple of other angle shots to see if she could catch a glimpse. Finally, Nathan asked.... "What do you think, boy or girl?" She said "I would definitely not go to Vegas to place a bet, but I think it's a boy." I just watched as the huge grin crossed Nathan's face.

So at this point in time, we think the baby is a boy, but.....

All I care is that the baby is looking good. 10 fingers, 10 toes, beating heart and as cute as the dickens!