A Jen Moment Story.....

Okay, so on Facebook I alluded to a "bad" day that was not worthy as telling about as a one liner. So here it goes...

Micah and I travelled alone, down to Peoria, to his pediatrician appointment. I chose to take the truck because it is very convenient to let him sit in the middle front, since there are no air bags, making it easier to tend to him. His appointment went great, and on the way home I stopped at Target. Tyler had requested that I pick him up some pants while down in the Valley. (So far I have mentioned my greatest pet peeve of living in a small town. Travelling long distances for such simple things, like pediatricians and clothing! That requires a blog vent, so it doesn't belong in this blog story.)

So after I was done with my shopping, it is time to lug the baby seat back to the truck, along with my groceries. For those of you who have never experienced an Arizona August summer WITH a baby, then truly you need to understand this is a social/cultural event unique to places with extremely hot weather!

Goal one, and pretty much the only goal: get baby out of the heat and sun, but recognize that your vehicle is literally an oven inside. Sooooo as quickly as possible, get baby safely inside out of the elements, start vehicle, crank the air, move as fast as possible to get everything else loaded inside the vehicle. Then get the vehicle in motion asap to further aid in getting the vehicle cooled off. All while ignoring dripping sweat down your own back. (yes not attractive, and pretty gross!)

However! The driver side was snugged up closely to the cart drop off, and the truck is slightly high, so this was easier said than done. With some muscle, (or lack thereof) and some jiggling and jostling, I got Micah and his car seat into the Truck. I quickly started the truck, and jumped out to load everything else in.

So I rush around to the other side, "Doh! this side is locked! Go back to the other side..., *$#@!, the whole truck is locked!!! I bumped the lock while jostling the car seat around!!!"

At this point I had visions of being one of "those" parents who end up on the news because their baby nearly dies of heat exhaustion from being left in a vehicle for too long. Who is stupid enough to do "that?" That is Karma for ya, I will never laugh at anyone ever again for doing stupid things...heaven knows I have done my fair share! ARGH!

So after a phone call to Tyler (doh! no hideakey either), it is time to call 911. So, 911 informs me that there is a fire truck on its way, and to call back if Micah stops breathing! They were relieved to know that the air was on. Thankfully this happened in the truck, 'cause in the car it would have just been one big convection oven, with a lot of hot air being blown around. However, I really wasn't certain the truck was blowing cool air at this point.

Within a few minutes I could hear the sirens, and soon they arrived in the parking lot. At this point I started to relax, and could feel the tears welling up! Four fire fighters jump out, and got to work. They started in with a hook the old fashioned way. Within 5-10 minutes they had the truck opened. I lept inside, took Micah out and held him. At this point he was crying, and was a little warm. One of the fire fighters checked to make sure he wasn't overly hot while the others loaded my stuff inside for me, and I sat stunned in the front seat! I also didn't want to pay attention to how many onlookers had gathered at this point! After a short time, I put Micah back in his seat, and double checked that the doors were unlocked. Then I returned to my seat to start the journey home.

So that is the story, thankfully it had a good ending. Micah is barely aware of the danger he was in. His mom was more traumatized by it then he!

My favorite moments over the past few weeks...

We had Micah on June 18th, but I don't have the time to tell the story tonight. I do want to share some of my favorite quotes over the last few weeks.

Seth- "He[Micah] is my joker, when I am bored, I look at him and he makes me happy!"

My conversation with Morgan-
"Mommy, can I get you something?"
"How about my water please?"
"No, something babyish!"

Seth put his arms around me after Micah was three weeks old and said, "Mommy you are reducing!"

Morgan after while watching me change Micah's diaper after his circumcision says, "His penis looks like a real one now!" lol maybe I need to make sure Seth closes the door more while in the bathroom!

The Knight in Catcher's Armor!

Seth finished up his little league season in early June. Thank goodness for mild June weather! Going into June I was beginning to question my sanity. I was 8 months pregnant, living in the middle of the Sonoran Desert, taking my son to baseball! Then low and behold we had very mild temps most of June! I joke that people could thank me for the mild weather, because it was God having mercy on the pregnant lady! No I am not one bit narcissistic!

Seth had a great season. The first 3/4 (at least) of the season, he had a very hard time getting the hang at hitting the ball. Since he was doing machine pitch, we asked the coach to borrow the machine once and practiced with him at The Ranch (The Retirement Ranch that Tyler's family owns). This helped to built his confidence quite a bit.

It was also very encouraging to see how eager he was to practice. He seems to have really gained an appreciation for the value of practicing! This is also quite an accomplishment for him. I don't know how many times over the first part of his life I repeated the same mantra over and over again. "You can do it, it just takes practice." "No, you are not allowed to just quit, come back over here and just try." "Good!! See what happens when you practice? You did it!!" This season he would come home from striking out the entire game, only to beg Tyler to take him in the dark backyard to practice!

Before the first game the coach told all of the boys that if they want to catch they have to wear a cup. Mainly because the machine pitches out the balls pretty fast. Seth immediately had his heart set on catching. It was about the third game when Seth finally had his cup! (He wore the thing proudly around the house the first day we got it!) The first thing he told the coach is "I want to catch." The coach came to me and told me he would probably get hit (I think he might have recognized how impulsive he is, and may have been more concerned than he normally would. I am just guessing though.) I of course knew he would probably get hit, but isn't that what all of the equipment is for?? Also, knowing how excited he was I wasn't about to say no!

Well sure enough, the first time out there he got hit in the head by the bat! I was actually in the bathroom with Morgan when it happened. I was told he plopped to the ground. He got a little rattled, but the coach sat him back up, and by the time I got back he was still catching! After a few games, and quite a few minor injuries, I couldn't figure out why he was still so excited about catching! (Minor injuries such as forgetting to keep the non-gloved hand behind his back, therefore getting hit by the ball etc.)

Then the reason came out! He said he felt like a knight with all of the equipment on, and the machine pitch was like a catapult. He liked the feeling of being shot at, but the equipment protected him. I think he felt brave squatting there behind home base! ha! I think catching really made up for all of the times he struck out. It gave him a sense of purpose and belonging on the team. I immediately saw the blessing in his position as catcher.

Towards the end of the season, Tyler got some great advice from their cook at the Ranch. He said to get a long rope and attach it to the ball (Tyler used duct tape). Then swing the ball around his his body and have Seth swing at it. It really helped! The ball stayed at an even plane, and it helped Seth a ton with his timing! The last couple of games Seth got more hits than strikes! It was a great way to end the season! I was really proud of Seth!

When he was striking out at the beginning, Seth looked so discouraged and hurt! Then I pointed out that many were striking out, and even pros strike out. I saw a renewed spark. Being a catcher really gave him a sense of pride. Then finally getting the hang of batting brought it all together. He ended the season holding his head high, and completely jazzed!

Little Girls!

Morgan has started a new line, "You don't understand how I FEEL!"

I have to suppress my moan, and have to close my eyes so she doesn't see the eye roll! She is only five!! What is up with that? Isn't she a little young to be starting that??

What I really want to say to her is, "Well, you probably don't understand how YOU feel. I don't even understand how I feel! So suck it up, welcome to being a girl!"

Truly, I think I d0 understand how she feels. But what do I know? No matter how much I try tolisten and empathize, her stubbornness will not allow herself to soften(usually). All I can say is, "Maybe you are right, maybe I don't, but I am trying! Will you help me?"

Or I could simplify it by saying, "Welcome to girlhood, suck it up!"

argh

Camping

This last weekend we decided to take the kids camping. Yes I am 8 months pregnant, and I went camping. My main stipulation was that I have some form of a toilet instead of having to squat.

When I was 8 months pregnant with Seth we went camping as well. Back then I didn't realize that I wouldn't be able to get up off the ground after squatting to do my business. Luckily Tyler was near and rescued me. He ended up tying a rope to a tree so that I could pull myself up off the ground. I was not about to go through that again on this trip.

So my toilet was a bucket with a toilet seat that fitted nicely on top, with a biodegradeble bag to store all of the goodies in.

We have a huge tent to sleep in, so I(acctually Tyler) brought an air mattress and memory foam to put on top. Yes I was very comfy, until the time came to hoist myself off the ground about 5x's in the middle of the night to go use my nifty toilet.

While we were driving around looking for a good place to camp, we noticed lots of dark clouds nearby. So we broke out the blackberry only to discover there was a thunderstorm in our near future. Tyler's best friends from college didn't coin the phrase "camping with Tyler is always an adventure!" for no reason.

At this point Seth began to stress because he was worried we wouldn't be able to camp. (Trust me, I was ready to find a nearby hotel.) However, I knew how much Seth wanted to camp, and seeing how it rains most of the time that I camp with Tyler, what is one more time? Oh yeah, except this time I am 8 months pregnant. Aye.

Sure enough as soon as we got our easy-up pitched the storm started. Note, just the easy-up is up, not the tent. Oh and did I mention, we had a great fire, but the rain smothered it? Yep the adventure was beginning.

The storm passed rather quickly (thank goodness), but wait what is that? Are those clouds coming our way? We decided that we would pitch our tent as fast as we could, or we may have to leave for a hotel soon.

As luck would have it, those clouds went around us! Yay! I think God knew we would have to hogtie Seth if we had to give up on our camping trip!

Tyler eventually got the fire going again, and we had a great campfire dinner.

That night was extremely cold!! We didn't expect that!! We barely had enough sleeping bags/blankets to keep warm. My only concern was that I was sharing the air mattress with Morgan, and she is known to wet the bed from time to time. We would not have enough blankets to replace the ones she could potentially soak. She even was worried about it, as she said "I hope I don't wet the tent!"

So, we decided that we would have to wake her in the middle of the night to ensure this wouldn't happen. However, it was so cold I was worried about the struggle that we would have to get her out of the tent. Tyler was great though, he wrapped her up in a blanket, and she hardly even woke up. God was definitely good to us there as well.

The next morning Morgan burst out of her sleeping bag and exclaimed, "I didn't wet the tent, I prayed!" What a cutie.

We spent a lazy morning at the campsite. Took the kids "fishing" nearby. (The lake was empty we found out. The kids had fun anyhow.) Packed up and headed home! We had a great time.

I will post pics soon. Right now I need to head to bed.

Easter

Okay, A long overdue update.

For Easter we went to a 7:00am sunrise service. We didn't arrive until 7:15AM though. I can't remember the last time we were actually on time for church! Then around 11:00am we headed over to The Ranch (The retirement ranch Tyler's family owns) and went on an Easter Egg hunt. It was allot of fun. Here are some of my favorite pics from that. Then later on we went to my Grandmother's house and visited her for a little while.

Happy New Year!

Well, I have been told that everyone is over my "obliterated ankle" and it is time to update my blog. So I thought that would be a perfect way to start off the New Year.

Seth was the only one to get invited to a New Year's party, he went over to his friend Clayton's house. Clayton is a great friend for Seth as they are both Aspies (have Aspergers). Aspergers manifests itself in totally different ways in the two, and they balance each other out nicely. Seth is impulsive and doesn't seem to ever think anything through. Clayton, however, is cautious and worries about every possible outcome!

Tyler never wants to stay up until midnight! His excuse is that he has to work the next day, but I think he needs to live it up one night of the year! I was tempted to call up a friend, whose husband is as equally exciting as mine, but stayed home instead.

So, we were watching a rerun of Extreme Home Maker Over, and we got enticed by a dominoes commercial around 8:00pm, advertising their new sandwiches! Yum! They deliver you know!

Then I got obsessed with the story of the Home Make Over family, and I spent some time surfing the web learning more info. Sad story. Being 14 weeks pregnant I was sitting on my computer with tears streaking my face!

Then we watched the party going on in New York, Seth had come home from his friends house and he wanted to stay up until the New Year. So I said sure! We watched the New Year roll into New York (10:00pm Arizona time) and we all yelled happy New Year, and I muttered "in New York" and then we sent the kids to bed! Seth looked a little confused, but it seemed to work.