The Jumperoo

It's a hit! Who would've known jumping up and down with some lights and animal sounds could be so fun. We weren't going to get him one--I was against it. I thought, ahh he'll be fine with sitting on a blanket and playing with toys. We don't need to spend that money. What can ya do when it's on a great sale though? There goes that excuse. He still will be fine with sitting on a blanket and slobbering all over his toys. This just adds one more dimention--jumping while slobbering all over his toys. Two things Robert has mastered. We got it on a great sale at Sears and he loves it!

My PFO closure

This is now what my heart looks like. Come to find out most of my siblings and I have a PFO (Patent Foramen Ovale) or a hole between two chambers of the heart. I am the 6th to have a PFO closure out of the 8 who have been checked. I have one brother who hasn't yet been checked for a PFO. So yesterday we braved the blizzard up to Idaho Falls and Dr. Gorman put the device in at noon. Turns out my hole is about the size of a dime (6-8 mm) and the closure device they used is about the size of a quarter (18 mm). The surgery was complete around 1:00, I woke up from the anesthesia about 2:00, and they wheeled me off to the recovery room. While waking up, I must have asked the nurse, Rhett, about 4 or 5 times "Where's Andrew?" "Who?" He would say because of my slurring. "My husband, where is he?" After about the 5th time Rhett called Andy in the waiting room and told him we would meet him in recovery in about 20 minutes. I stopped asking (that I remember) after that. So we got to the recovery room about 2:30 and the incision sight in my groin started bleeding (Andy says I was still groggy and babbling). The nurse put most of her body weight on it for 15 minutes to stop the bleeding and then our 5 hour count down started.

A few days before the procedure I asked the hospital how soon I would be able to go home after it was all over. They told me, "We'll keep you a couple of hours, just to make sure you can swallow and you're not nausious." I was expecting to be home be 6:00ish. Well, come to find out I had to lay completely horizontal for 5 hours after any bleeding stopped. So our count down started about 3:00 and by 8:00 we were very ready to go home. We called 511 to check the roads and they said it was doable but be careful. Thankgoodness we had the 4 wheel drive and chains. We loaded up and drove home at about 45 mph. The roads weren't too bad, although it had snowed and blowed all day. There were a few scary spots, but we made it! It's not too often that you're in a place where people take such good care of you, wait on you hand and foot, and yet, you just want to get out of there as fast as possible.

Now I can't lift more than 5 pounds for about a week. I just have to take it easy for a bit, then I'm back to my regular routine with Plavix and Aspirin for 6 months. Yep, that means no lifting my boy. Robert is 4 months old and 18 pounds. I can hold him on my lap if someone puts him there. Andy's on double duty for a few days. Overall, I'm glad I did it. I'd much rather pay for a simple surgery than have my family history of strokes, heart atacks, etc come to haunt me and have to go through THAT recovery.

Asleep, asleep, asleep

He fell asleep in the car. The last couple days, Robert hasn't felt well. More puke and poop than I could've ever imagined from our lil' boy. Today he's finally feeling better. He's exhausted from all the discomfort, but he finally gets his rest. Such a pretty sleeper!

Cookie Monster Suit

Robert got this warm suit from a co-worker of mine. It is so so soft! Softer than anything you can imagine!! Seriously!!
Plus..he looks like Cookie Monster in it!

Thanksgiving

Ah, Thanksgiving. The one day each year in which it is socially acceptable to eat until you have to loosen your pants. Of course, that doesn't really stop me on most days the rest of the year. This year was probably the smallest Thanksgiving that Lacey or I have ever been to. It was our year to spend with my side of the family, and it was just Lacey, the boy and me, my parents, and Brent and Lindsay.

We had all the usual stuff, you know--turkey, potatoes, stuffing, corn, rolls, yams, pies, and all sorts of other goodies. We even watched football for the first 10 minutes of each game until they turned into laughers. And when football wasn't on, Lacey has started a new tradition where we watch The Office. Great day. And here's some pictures of the festivities; oddly enough Lacey isn't in any of the pictures, she must have been running the camera all day. (as usual)

Grandpa playing pattycake with the boy.







Our little drool machine.

Aunt Lindsay and Uncle Brent.







Traditional Thanksgiving Nap.

Robert ate so much he's growing some nice man boobs.

A Battle Wound

Usually Robert sucks his thumb, but this morning he had his 2 middle fingers. The same two middle fingers I sucked when I was a baby!















Andy was reaching across for something with his right hand and on the way back to normal clocked Robert above his left eye. It's a little red. Robert wasn't sure if he should cry at first, but.......



He decided it was worth crying about.




I've been trying for weeks to get "the lip" picture. It took Andy's elbow in the eye to keep it around long enough to get the camera out and the picture taken.

He's so photogenic

This is my favorite: the hat, the cute look on his face, the black and white. He's so lovable!



His eyes got stuck on the plaid blanket and had a little trouble readjusting. He reminds me of the little boy on "Dennis the Mennis" when they play hid-and-seek. The little boy that goes to the ice cream store with his dad....Anyway, he's a cutie-bug!



The classic curiosity photo. His eyes are saying, "Why do they always take pictures of me?"

Bad Dad?

The boy has a tendancy to hold up one of his fingers. I'm sure I couldn't have taught him this already, could I?

Now, when I first set him down in the basket Lacey was chewing me out. . .something about tipping over and hurting himself. But then she thought that it would make a good picture. And you know what? She's right.

The Test

So, here it is mid-November, and almost a year and a half since I seriously started studying for the CPA Exam. I have a study book that's roughly 1,500 pages long and I have answered every question in that book at least once, and a lot of them two or three times.

Fortunately, I can say that all the hard work is paying off. I have passed three sections, and missed passing the fourth and final section by a single point back in August.

Now I'm going to reattempt the fourth part a couple of days before Thanksgiving, and this time I have the boy to help me study.

Halloween!

Halloween was great fun! Robert had "groovy ghosts" on his shirt all day. For our Halloween party he was a lion--and very ferocious mind you. I was a fly (my favorite costume for the last 3 years). Andy was himself, as usual. My family and Andy's parents came down and all the kids went trick-or-treating. I don't know about you, but I boycott trunk-or-treating. No fun to go stand around in a parking lot. I'd much rather get to know my neighbors trick-or-treating the neighborhood. We didn't do either this year however, Robert doesn't care if we go or stay home, and until he can help eat his own candy, I'd assume stay home.

Robert's Blessing

Goooooooooood Morning Robert! This is the morning of his blessing and he was sleeping so cute we had to snap some pictures.

I asked my mom about 6 weeks ago if she would knit a baby blessing outfit. She's been knitting away ever since. The day before the blessing she put the final touches on. He looks so handsome in his little outfit--it doubles as a marshmallow costume! He was asleep most of the times my mom came by to try it on him so we just held it up to him. The length fits great but he definately doesn't fill out the width. You can't really tell it's big unless you pull the sides out while he's laying down so it's all good. After the blessing we had a "post-blessing party" at Andy's parents house. All in all it was a great day! Lot's of family and friends were able to come.

Andy's Birthday

Andy is gone all day at an estate sale he's heading up for work which means I have time to fiddle around with the blog. Two days ago was Andy's birthday--here's the story. Andy has had a duck and a phesant in the freezer for about the last 2-3 years waiting to be stuffed. Well, about July I got this fabulous idea to save up and have them stuffed and mounted for his birthday. I was worried he would realize they weren't in the freezer anymore or that he would somehow figure out what I was getting him. 2 weeks before his birthday I went and picked them up, we don't have room for me to hide them at our house so I took them to his parents'. When the check cleared I was really nervous because I knew Andy would see it on our account and that we would be able to see who I made it out to. Alas, he only saw how much it was for. So we went to dinner (Senior Iguanas, very tastey) with his parents and sister and her husband. On the way home to open presents he was guessing what I got him. He guessed everything but the birds! All in all it was a huge success--he was so suprised!

The Robert Story

So I didn't realize until after I posted "Our Bundle of Joy" that I didn't write anything about it. Here's the scoop. I was 8 days over and very ready for my doctor to induce me. Monday I had the flu and was thowing up all day.....so first thing Tuesday morning we were in the hospital to start the process, which turned out to be as slow as mud. What's even worse is my friend checked in one hour before me and had her baby 4 hours later (Robert didn't come for another 36 hours!) By the time the nurse said you're ready to push I wanted to laugh in her face--READY? after 2 days of eating practically nothing? I am far from having energy to push. Alas, I pushed for about 1 hour then came....well I'm not sure what, complete and utter exhaustion? despair? weakness? all you mothers know what I'm talking about. I had been so long in the hospital and my labor had progressed so slowly, we were all ready to tear our hair out. Out came the forceps. And about 30 minutes later at 11:03 p.m. Wednesday out came our full grown-very pale-newborn. He was having trouble, having been in the birth canal so long, so they wisked him away to the NICU after quickly weighing and measuring him. Thankgoodness he just needed the respitory bag and wasn't hooked up to any machines. He stayed there for the next 12 hours, but then was in our room and the nursery. By Friday we were home. Home Sweet Home! It never felt so good to come home!

Our Bundle of Joy

9 pounds 10 ounces!

After 39 long hours, he's finally here-Robert Andrew Smart