Triple Bunk Time!!

Since Mack has came into our family and took over the nursery - the girls have been sleeping wherever sounds good that night.  This has not been fun.  Lexi wants her own room, and everyone else wants to sleep with Lexi.  So after looking into fun bunk bed ideas on Pinterest for over 3 months - I finally sold our old bunk bed (full on bottom, twin on top) and figured that would make us commit to something.  Well after about a month we finally plunged into the project "operation triple bunk" and I think it couldn't have turned out any better.  It is PERFECT and the girls absolutely LOVE it.  My hubby is amazingly talented and we couldn't be happier with it. 
Each girl has her own bunk, along with 2 shelves, a cuby to keep things, her own outlet to house a lamp or whatever, and her own window to access the ladder.  I love the closed in feel of each bunk.  When I finally get the rest of the room painted and complete - I plan to match cute fabric and make bunk a curtain to close for privacy...I love it!
And yes, these are standard 8 ft ceilings - so the first mattress is on the ground. 

                                                            The girls enjoying their beds

Final Product

almost done - this is just before adding ladder and cutting window holes to climb through

platforms up

the beginning :)

November already?

Wow - I have a lot of catching up to do.  I can't believe it's already November!  November first I heard Christmas commercials like crazy and stores had everything up - it is coming so fast.

We have done alot in the last month and I need to find some time to get it posted.

We are doing well.  Mack is doing fine - we have had a ton of doctor appts, which have become very old.  But I think we are finally over that hump.  He should only need to see the pediatrician now for normal wellness checks/immunizations.  He will still be meeting with the surgeon though through out his first year.  But this is comforting to me because the lady is AMAZING and I feel relieved to know she still has a hand in things to help guide us. 
In the last 5 weeks we have had 3 pediatrician appts, 1 surgeon appt, 1 ultrasound appt, and 2 OBGYN for me.  I did manage to squeeze a hair appt in for me as well :)

Mack in the last week and 1/2 has came to a 'content' stage.  He will just lay there and look around and be good.  Shelby cried so much as a baby, and Mack was pretty fussy at first - so it's hard to remember what a 'content' stage is like.  He eats every 3 hours and is getting better about taking naps.  He is falling asleep pretty well on his own, it's keeping him asleep for more than 20 min or so that is tricky.
He is smiling at us some when we play with him.  We've even heard a few coo's from him.  We are getting so excited to have him laugh and play with us...maybe I wont feel so silly anymore :)
He does great at night - I can't complain.  He sleeps real well the first part of the night.  He falls asleep between 9 and 10p and will sleep til 4am ish. 

So those of you who know us well know that I love my sleep - we've always slept in til about 9am.  Lexi having to be up at 7:45am really put a damper on my schedule when she started school.  Well now our whole house hold is up and going before 7:30 if not earlier! I don't know what has happened, but Shelby is always up by 7 and Kam and Lexi get up later.  I'm usually feeding Mack and Mike is getting off for work.  I don't know how I feel about the change - it's gonna be a damper when it's summertime.  But I do love that the kids go down easy and fast for bed at 8pm.  We don't hear a peep - so I guess it's a nice trade off.

Lexi is loving school still.  She is trying out for some parts in her 2nd grade program.  It is pretty much all she talks about - I hope she does well and gets the part she wants.  She is also rocking it at piano.  I'm very proud of her and glad she has talent there.  Our lives are still crazy with a newborn so we're not as good at practicing piano or spelling words and what not as we should be, but Lexi still succeeds and does well.  I'm so relieved.  Last week I was stuck at the Dr's office for 2 hrs with nothing to do but think - it dawned on me that I hadn't gone over Lexi's spelling words even once with her.  I didn't even know what they were, and it was her test that day! I felt horrible all day - but she still did fine.  I vowed to be better from then on.

Kamree just had her 5th birthday!!  She is so grown up and I love her to pieces.  She is so sweet and giving.  In the last year or so some switch has gone off with her and she is such a different little girl.  She loves to get and give affection, she is so great with Shelby, and she sure loves baby Mack.  Kam loves preschool and loves taking charge.  One day she was telling me about one of the girls at school crying because she missed her mom.  So I was telling Kam she could be her friend, sit by her, and play with her, etc.  Kam said "but mom I'm there to learn, not play".  I just laughed.
On her birthday she didn't understand why she didn't get to go to kindergarten now...she is so excited for school.
Kamree wants a pet so bad - she wants a puppy to cuddle and love.  I'm against one right now in our lives, so we bought her a huge stuffed dog and a dog cake instead :)  How kind of me, right? haha

Shelby is a cutie - and soo big.  At 3yrs 2months old - she is at Kamree's height on her 4th bday!  I'm pulling clothes out of Kam's closet for Shelby because all her 3T shirts and pants and too small and too short.
Shelby is my great little helper.  We are good buds and I love the one on one time I get with her when the girls are at school.  She is sweet and always says "thank you".  Yesterday I said, "Thanks for being my good helper today" and she said "you're welcome mom!" ahh :)  This girl always makes us laugh - I love to listen to her talk and tell stories, I find myself wishing I could video record her all the time.  She loves her brother and calls him 'baby macky'.  The one thing she loves most though is her daddy.  She talks about him all the time and is ecstatic when he comes home.  She also loves to take baths (like 2 a day).

Mike is busy at work - which is always a good thing.  He is finished with blowouts - yay!  We are busy enough to keep an employee on thru winter, this is fabulous!  Things are going really well for him.

I'm doing well.  We had my wonderful amazing fabulous friend Lara's birthday dinner last night.  It was so great to get out with my girlfriends and catch up.  I have been tied down with Mack - especially because we are not really suppose to take him out for cold/flu season.  I've really missed my friends and can't wait til we can get together lots more.

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A few things I learned today...

Today I learned that Mack does not care for JoAnne's, just like Shelby didn't when she was little.  I had to get him out of his seat because he was crying so bad...thus making my shopping even longer.  and of course there was an extremely long line to wait in...there always is.

I learned that our Ross store has dang cute stuff - so I helped myself to a cute mirror today and some shirts for the girls for family photos.

I'm trying to keep Mack on a schedule - which meant nursing in the car today between errands.  Shelby and I had great conversations during feeding.  I learned that I must say "so" and "super" alot because everything to her is "super cute mom" or "so scared mom" and it's stinking ADORABLE!

I also learned just how much our little ones take cues from us - while ordering my yummy drink at Sonic for happy hour today - Kam ordered hers adding "easy on the ice" just like me - haha.  Does she even get what that means? love it -

Also I thought I was clever by parking right next to the cart corral today at Walmart.  Well I was wrong.  Turns out the employees love to take their dear old time and load each cart individually into a row RIGHT DIRECTLY BEHIND YOUR CAR until they have all of them from the corral - then they push them into the store.  the whole time Mack was crying and I came VERY VERY close to getting out to help him speed up the process because he was blocking me in.  (it was probably only 3 or 4 minutes, but you know how time crawls when your child is screaming)

Mack - 1 month old

My friend took some pictures of Mack.  He is pretty fussy most days - therefore he is fussy in most of them.  But so precious when he is sleeping :)

Pictures of Mack

Here are some photos of Mack - I couldn't get them to upload with my last post:

Lexi and Baby brother

Koy was loving baby Mack - look how sweet his face is here :)

This tube down his nose is called a gavage - it went into his stomach, this is how they fed him when he wouldn't eat his bottle on his own.

We found he loves his tummy - it's also suppose to help with reflux

*Kam still sleeps with her bum up like this, cutest thing ever*

Morning going in to be induced - 39 weeks

C-section here we come!

Holding Mack for the first time - they put me on a gurny and rolled me thru the NICU...yep, I threw up right after

This was right after surgery - this is when he looked the worst - he only had this many tubes at one time for a short amount of hours

I think this is day 2...it all runs together

 This was his first bed

 2nd bed

here is the entry point for surgery - the surgeon is known for doing funny drawings on the bandages...Mack's was a football.  He is going to be a tough guy and play football - donating time and money to a NICU :)

Kam's was so happy to hold her brother

Shelby in her proud moment :)

Mike's parents - Marilyn just had knee surgery the week before so it was a sacrifice to get her into the hospital to see the baby...but she did it :)

*I need to find and post more grandparent pictures here...*

My mom also came up for 10 days to help out.  Rob drove her up and went back for work, he drove back up the next weekend to pick her up.  Then they both came back AGAIN the next weekend to help some more.  They definetly sacrificed alot and we appreciated the help.  Mom was so helpful with laundry, cleaning, and running the girls around.

My sister Amber and her boy Mckoy also came up for a week.  She was helpful to run the girls and me around...since I was unable to drive and get around still.  She was lucky and had harvest break in her school district, so she gave up part of it to come up here to spend it with us.

My dad also was able to make it for the weekend to see Mack just before leaving for his new adventure to Africa.  We will surely miss him - we are so glad Mack came before Dad had to leave.  Also they'll be able to celebrate some birthdays together...Mack is the 17th and Dad is the 18th :)

Sisterly love at home

10 days old - and his 3rd bed

cuddling with daddy

So this is how he was in the womb :) - yep that was causing me lots of pain being breech and all, funny he still likes this position

feeding Mack

YAY!! were going home - day 18!!!....yes, he was excited :) haha

Carseat ride

DAY 20 - heading to the pediatritian

My sweet friend Lara had the girls the day we brought baby home.

They made this cute sign to Welcome Mack Home!

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That's all the time I have for now.  It's had finding time to type and upload pictures.  We are adjusting to having FOUR children.  We love our cuddle time with Mack, and the girls are being so helpful.  He's pretty good at night feedings - I stay up til his last night feed 11 or midnight, then he wakes for a 3:30ish feeding and then again at 7 ish, just in time to finish and move onto getting Lexi up and at it for school.

I'm going alittle crazy being housebound - it's been about 2 months of this.  I'm trying to enjoy it, but the lack of social-ness is killing me :) so I'm enjoy the phone calls when I can make them and have time and the visits from friends.  We are doing well though - after going through this kind of experience you cherish things more and realize your many blessings.  Baby Mack and our children are definetly our blessings in life!!

*~~Baby MACK has arrived~~*

Baby Mack Anthony Dean joined our family on September 17 at 9:28am weighing in at 6 pds 8 ounces.  He has been our biggest babe yet (only by an ounce).
I must say it was one of the most stressful days of our lives.  We went in for a scheduled 7am induction - knowing Mack was breech, my doctor wanted to take him a week early so we could still try for a regular delivery with him in the 'frank breech' postion.  Well by the time we got in our room, hooked up to everything, including the lovely I.V. (poked again TWICE...urrr), my dr. came in to do a quick ultrasound on Mack's position...and that's when things changed.
Mack was not gonna let us take him that way - his cord and feet were coming out first.  So my dr. said we definetly were doing a c-section, and right then because I had already been dialated to a 3 only 5 days before.  So I learned all I could about c-sections and what would be going on in about 10 minutes from my amazing nurse.  The minute my dr. said C-section, the room began to buzz with people. 


They moved me to the O.R. and I began to feel a bit of fear and aloneness with Mike gone.  I remember laying on the table ready to start and wondering when my husband would be coming.  The rest of it went fine.  Then Mack came out great, having swollowed some fluid (a blessing really) because they tried to get in out, and he still had it, so they stuck a tube down his throat and it wasn't going in...this raised concern.  Immediately they rushed him off to the NICU with Mike and filled Mike in on the way there.

We then learned his esophagus was not connected to his stomache -
Esophageal Atresia -> Tracheoesophageal Fistula. (TEF)
He then had a 2 1/2 hr surgery the following day - it was scary, but he pulled thru without a hitch.  We then had to sit back and wait 5 days for them to test his esophugus for leaks.  All went well so he was started on pedialyte and breastmilk.  They pulled his I.V. and now we just have to wait for him to eat the amount they want him to eat through his mouth.  It is a frustrating stage we are in.  He is still so tired and exhausted and they wake him every 3hrs to feed.  Whatever he doesn't take thru mouth is then gavaged thru his nose tube to his tummy.  So he still gets fed, but doesn't have to put forth much effort - this is the frustrating part.
But yesterday (day 15) he rocked it and on 3 of his feedings he intook about 90% thru mouth :) yay!!!!!!!  so hopefully everyday he'll just get stronger, more alert, and ready to eat so our sweet boy can come home with us.  I love being his cheerleader while I am there feeding him.  It just breaks my heart not to be there for all his feedings - I think he would do better.  But we still have a family to run at home and we are doing our best to juggle everything.  The girls want to hold their brother so badly - I think they don't really get it.

I can tell you now that he will forsure be spoiled because I'm going to hold him and snuggle him like crazy.  This has been so hard not having a baby at home.

During my pregnancy I feel like I was being prepared for this moment.  I have learned and grown soo much over the last 2 weeks.  My testimony and prayers have grown tremendously and I'm so thankful for my Heavenly Father being by my side through this trial in my life.  He has not left us alone.  I have realized what a rock my husband is to me.  My first few days without him at the NICU were so hard and emotional.  He balances me well and I'm so thankful for him and his testimony.  I'm also thankful for the priesthood, that he is able to give our sweet little son blessings.

Things are still going to be hard when Mack gets home - he has trechea malaysia and CAN NOT get sick, especially RSV - or it will be real bad.  So we'll be housebound for sometime and we'll be germ-aphobics.  But we'll have an adorable little boy we can hold whenever we want and that will be priceless.