Hamster Heaven

I took Dray to his two-month-old check-up yesterday. Aside from the painful shots in his poor little legs, everything went well and he was pretty nice. He is 14 lbs. and 1 oz. now and in the 97th percentile for his weight and 100th percentile for his heighth. We love him more every day.

In other news, our dear Slinky Potato Hamstee has finally given up the ghost. We had him for three years and he was a cute, energetic, and patient companion for Alan and Ellie (who both shed some tears over his departure.) He endured being held day after day and didn't once bite a finger. We know he's in a better place.
So...does anyone want a perfectly good hamster cage, complete with wheel and little porch? We also have food, bedding, etc... The reason why we will not be needing these in the future is because Ken and the kids went to pick out a hamster at Petsmart, and guess what happened? They all three adamantly decided that they wanted a cat. Now, it's not that I think kittens and cats aren't very cute, but what I don't think is cute are kitty litter messes, cat food costs and fur everywhere (that, and they make me sneeze when I hold them.) Eventually Ken and the kids were able to win me over with the promises of help with vacuuming, extra chores, and lots and lots of begging. I can't believe I finally caved in.
So, we now have two adopted kittens (that are litter box trained, thank goodness) running around the house. When I see them, my two first thoughts are: A) They are very cute and fluffy, and (B) I can't believe I let them talk me into this...

Honky Tonk Johnson

Wow, how did it get to be 2010 already?! It seems like just yesterday that we were celebrating the arrival of the year 2000. Now here I am; one college degree, five jobs, seven cities (all in AZ), and three kids later. A lot changes in ten years.
We had a great Christmas this year and a fun New Year's too. Lana and Abby spent Christmas day with us. Everyone had fun visiting, opening gifts, and pigging out on sugar-filled foods. We drove down to Safford on New Year's Day and had a great visit with family. We were especially glad that Scott, Bethany, and Celeste were able to visit from Idaho!
Besides the whole sleep deprivation thing, things are going well with Dray. He is a happy, talkative, and precious little guy. Though he didn't go to bed until 11 p.m. and was awake non-stop from 2 to 7 a.m. this morning, he is so cute that he's totally forgiven. We think it's his tummy troubles that keep him awake and fussy at night. Despite Mylicon, he provides many noisy toots as evidence.
He's laughs out loud often, especially in reaction to his brother and sister. He loves to play "hands" (as Ken labeled it). If you hold out your hand, he will reach for it, grab it, and then proceed to go wild pulling and scratching at your fingers. Another one of his hobbies is staring with great interest at air vents and ceiling fans. Dray has many nicknames thus far. Some of the more prominent and widely used names are Dray-Dray, Gasasaurus, Honky Tonk Johnson, Darlinko (Dar-leenk-o), and Compushus. A couple of those are just random noises that came out of our mouths while looking at him, and they stuck.
So, now that I am often home all day with an infant, I've started writing again. I haven't really written much (other than blog entries) since my days of reporting at the Courier. I haven't had any fiction published since college. So...I 've been working off and on for a couple of years on a story. I lose interest for a while and then for a couple of weeks start typing again. Last night I started brainstorming and have officially decided that I'm going to finish this thing! I have 40 pages done, which is quite a lot for me. I don't think I'll ever try to publish it, but I'm having a lot of fun writing it (in between feedings, burpings, fussings, diaper changes, homework, church stuff, cleaning, meals, etc...) But, I'm writing this so that I have others besides myself to hold me accountable for actually finishing this thing. I do, after all, want to eventually find out what happens to my main characters.
In other randomness, Ellie spends much of her afternoon congregating with the other neighbor kids from the top of our fence. I look out in the backyard before Ellie gets home from school and see little kid's heads from two different yards pocking up over the fence and waiting for Ellie to get home. Right after school, Ellie drops her backpack and runs to greet them. From their various little perches, they play and share snacks, toys, and stories. Every once and awhile they will play at eachother's houses, but since all three of us moms have brand new babies, it's much easier to let them have their little visiting corner. They seems to love it and manage to play just fine, all without leaving their yards.

The following Christmas pictures are courtesy of Lana

A December to Remember

As you can see, I haven't blogged for a while. Between now and the last blog:

* Dray has gained about 2 and a half pounds.
* Ken shaved his grizzly Adams beard.

* We found Ellie praying under the Christmas tree for her hurt hand to feel better (and also a few days before, we saw her outside with folded arms and bowed  head praying that the sour taste from the lime she ate would go away.) We're glad she knows she can always talk to Heavenly Father- even about the small stuff.
* I made a homemade snuggie for Alan (because he carries a big blanket wrapped around him all over the house.) Because I'm not much of a seamstress, I just cut a hole in the blanket for his head and two holes for the arms. Basically, it's like a big, plaid poncho dress and it doesn't really do too much to keep him warm, but he sure looks cute in it.

* Dray's doctor put him on ulcer/reflux medicine for his tummy problems and severe spit-ups. He seems to cry a lot less at night now (sometimes.)
* Ken bought two dog cakes (that could have easily been on cakewrecks.com) for Lana's birthday and we barked the happy birthday song to her while presenting the lovely cakes.

* This morning when Dray woke me up crying, I was so tired that I said, "Shhhh Dray. You'll wake up the baby."

* Alan declared that his cousin Zach's science themed party was "the best party of my life!"
* Ellie and Alan brought home great progress reports from school! Ellie is able to pick up a book and read it herself.
* We took the kids to the Bass Pro shop to see Santa. Once there, they decided that they didn't want to talk to him. They did however enjoy the laser shooting range, remote control cars, huge fish tank, and fudge shop. I'd never been before, but I decided that the place is basically like a huge taxidermy museum. It was interesting for the kids to see what wild animals look like up close.
*  We did most of our Christmas shopping.
* Had a family home evening last night where we talked about the symbols of Christmas, painted ornaments, ate star cookies, and watched a nativity video.

Also, we are planning to bless Dray in Emily's ward with Baylee (on Sunday the 27th) so that it will be easier for all of the family to be there.

Alan's Big Day

I don't have time to write much (Dray often sleeps for only a few minutes at time before he wakes up fussing.) He rolled over for the first time a week ago- pretty good for a two-week-old baby! He is a high maintanance little guy, but we love his cute grumpy expressions.
Alan was baptized last Saturday. It was a very special day for all of us! Alan was so excited at his baptism and was especially happy to have family there to support him. He went to his first Cub Scout pack meeting last night and was inducted into the pack by chugging a full cup of wolf's blood (red punch) while being cheered on by the other boys.

All dressed up on baptism day

A cute group of cousins after the baptism.

The other day Ellie sheepishly poked her head in the back door and asked Abby for a wash cloth. She also instructed that we not look at her. Abby snuck a peak and realized that she had stamped her face all over with an orange stamp (as well as the neighbor girl's face). Ken found her hiding a few minutes later and snapped this photo.

Alan loves his new little bro. so much! We think they look a lot alike.

The girls having fun making crafts last Saturday evening.

Ellie quote of the week: "Mom, can I have some leprechaun pie with whip cream?" Translation: pecan pie with whipped cream.

Loving the baby and missing the sleep

Following in his brother and sister's footsteps, Dray has decided that sleep is just not his thing. Ellie said today with concern, "Mom, you look different. And what's wrong with your eyes?" I noticed later while passing a mirror that I had dark purple bags under my eyes, my hair was sticking up in front, and I had food stains on my shirt. It was quite the site. Ellie was nice to use the term "different" instead of "like a horrible zombie."
Despite the bags and lack of sleep, we all love him so. He gets hundreds of kisses on the cheek each day from each of us. He is a strong little guy and can already easily lift his head and peer around while on his tummy. Dray dislikes laying his head against us and seems to try to lift and throw back his head back every chance he gets. He is extremely hard to burp, despite trying every position possible and seems a little colicky at night.
Ellie spends a lot of time helping me out. She happily throws away dirty diapers, holds in his pacifier, and sings to him when he seems distressed. She and Alan run in every day after school, put up their shoes and backpacks, wash their hands, and rush straight to the baby to cuddle and talk to him.
I have to throw in the funny things that Alan and Ellie said this week before they are forever lost in the abyss that is my tired brain.

Abby noticed that Ellie's fingernails were getting a little long and asked if she wanted her to trim them. She said, "No thanks. I need to keep them long and fashionable."

Later, Ellie said  "I want to be a kindergarten teacher so I can boss everyone around like my teacher does."

We told Alan that both Abby and Dray needed to get some blood work done today at the lab. "Oh Abby!" Alan said, "That's so nice of you to donate your blood to the baby!"

Ellie was called on during Primary sharing time to stand up and name the holiday that's coming up soon. She answered, "Cornucopia Day!" Ken (who is a primary teacher) was pretty impressed that she even knew the word cornucopia and thought it was pretty cute.

Alan and Ellie peeking through the window of the hospital after Dray's birth.

How it all went down

Ken snapped this photo of Dray and I sleeping in the hospital.

Josh, Ellie and Alan peeking through the window at the new baby.

So, because this blog is an online journal of sorts, I’m going to write down the details of Dray’s birthday before I forget. The contractions started at about 4 o’ clock on Saturday morning. I tried my best to sleep through them and was able to until about 7:30. I woke Ken up at 8 because my contractions were about five minutes apart and we grabbed breakfast at Sonic and set off for the hospital. We arrived at 9 and they immediately started an I.V. and other preparations for labor. Already a week past my due date, I was more than ready to get through the labor and meet Dray. My Ob-Gyn was off for the day, so I was told that a doctor I’d never met was going to deliver the baby. At that point I didn’t care who was delivering, I just wanted it over with. At around noon I got an epidural. About an hour later, my blood pressure dropped and the monitor showed that Dray was in distress. The doctor quickly broke my water and discovered that there was meconium in the amniotic fluid. Shortly afterward, I was fully dilated and Dray arrived. He had the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck and the doctor had to remove the meconium for his airway, but despite these things, he was healthy. Ken and I felt so blessed to have this huge, blond, noisy baby safely in our arms. He was pretty bruised and bumped up due to his size and he was so big that they checked to see if he had broken his collar bone on the way out, but he checked out just fine. His round little head looked like it was covered in yellow chick feathers and we could already see dimples on his cheeks.

Because of the H1N1 virus, they hospital didn’t allow Alan and Ellie to visit the baby or I, which was extremely disappointing for Alan. Ellie insisted she didn’t want to see the baby (so glad she’s warmed up to him since then.) A nurse told us that previous families had brought children outside the hospital room windows in the courtyard so that they could peer into the room at the new addition. So, my Mom and Abby (who were watching Alan and Ellie at the time) took them around the courtyard wall and to the window. We pulled up the shade and they were able to wave to the baby and I. It was cute to see their faces pressed against the window. I don’t think they could see much, but at least they were reassured that all was well.

Almost one week after officially meeting Dray, I’ve come up with a list of words that describe him: chubby, cuddly, grunty, nocturnal, and HUNGRY. Despite his wanting to nurse 24 hours a day, I’m enjoying every minute with him. Ken and I are taking sleeping shifts and trying to work out a functional schedule of some sort. The kids love him and seem to be adjusting well. Alan said that Dray was “the best birthday present ever,” (he turns 8 today) and that he looks like the old man from the movie “Up.” Ellie said that his head “smells like a pretzel with cheese.” They both love to cuddle, talk to him, and keep him entertained. He is definitely a blessing to our family and I thank Heavenly Father every day for this cuddly, curious, and extremely chunky little guy.

Before I forget, everyone reading this is invited to Alan’s baptism on Saturday, Nov. 21st. I’ll provide the time and location soon!

He's here!

Our chubby little man (Dray Kendrick Crandall) has finally arrived! He was born October 31st at Banner Gateway hospital. He weighs 10 lbs. 4 oz. and is 22 inches long. More info. to come soon!