5 Months

At 5 months, Chase is sleeping through the night, not screaming through the evenings, laughing, smiling, standing in the walker and jumparoo, doesn't mind the car, still won't transfer asleep from the car to bed.  Doesn't fall asleep in the swing anymore, still loves outside, really wants to eat food, changed to hypoallergenic formula and can poop on his own regularly and seemingly does not get stomach aches.  We feel like we can breathe again and have some time to do other things.  He is happy and fun and we adore him.

4 Months

 I am late writing this but at 4 months, we left Chase with Grandma on his 4 month birthday while we went to Newport.  We just got back a week ago from leaving him with Emily and get the report that he slept good for them. He has stopped eating in the night and just needs his binkie and sometimes a re-swaddle.  He still hates the car and the evenings, loves the bjorn and being held and swimming.  He is smiling at us and we can't enough of it.

3 Months

 We have been counting down to 3 months in hopes that colic would get better then.  No magical day but we did change forumlas and he seems to be doing better with it.  Less stomach pain and less inconsolable crying.  He is still eating once a night but moved to 4 hour feedings during the day.  His naps are not great or regular because he is the youngest of 5 and we are pretty busy but he hates the car and usually cries the whole ride.  He has started to smile and talk to us and we LOVE it when he is happy.  We also moved his night feeding from 10 to 9 and we are loving having a little more time at night.  He also had his baby blessing and it was amazing! We had my entire family there except Aaron, Grady, Nick, and Max and Kayson's whole family except for Hayli, Kyle, Kait, and Kaydon.  He is a loved baby boy.  The week leading up Kayson said what kept coming to mind is that Chase would be resilient to try again and get up again.  He was blessed to know and feel that he is a literal son of Heavenly Father, He has the divine potential to become like God, he will establish a relationship with God through prayer, he has come to a world of turmoil and negativity but he has the ability to see the good especially in people around him, he was blessed to be a peacemaker with a heart full of righteous desire, he has come to family who loves him, is surrounded in love, told to keep them close and their influence will be great in his life, "There is none greater than the influence of your dear mother, stay close to her" He was blessed with health and strength and to enter the doors of the temple with his companion someday.  The thing that stood out to me the most is that he will see the good in situations and in people.  After church brother Cooper pulled me aside and said "I can't explain how I know but he is no ordinary boy and you are no ordinary mother.  He said he knows the Lord is sending his army and he is part of it.  This boy better be my bestie for life for how hard he is been on me so far.  I love this sweet boy so much.  We prayed and prayed for you to come join our family.

San Diego

 We drove to San Diego all in one day on Monday after spending the two days before with two kids throwing up and fevers.  Kylie had a cold and Courtney still had a cough and cold and Cole was recovering from the stomach flu.  The next morning we went to the San Diego zoo and had the best time. We stopped at Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner.   Wednesday we met Whitney at a park for a bit and then went to Legoland.  Courtney had a terrible cough and wasn't feeling great.  The hours were shortened and there were quite a few things closed but it was empty and no lines so we had a great time until Courtney threw up in line for the funnest ride near the end of the day so we grabbed some dinner and took it back to the hotel to eat.  Thursday we went to Sea World and it was empty too and so fun.  The rides had no lines and we met up with the Fullmers who were there to ride some rides with.  We did the shows and the rides many times.  The next day we planned to go to Sea World again but Kate woke up sick.  We finally decided to just sent Kayson and the kids and on their way all the maintenance lights came on the car, so they came back and Kayson took the car in.  So... we were stuck at the hotel with no car and we have too many people for one uber anywhere and the pool was being worked on.  We walked to a shopping center nearby to get some food and some cards and we played cards and watched tv.  It's really hard when you save up for a trip and things go wrong.  We got the car back Saturday morning and went to Sea World but it was like a trick or treat day and PACKED.  We still did some fun things but I was sad we missed out on the Friday that would have been more fun.  We stopped at the beach after and got some pizza and walked on the boardwalk and went back to the hotel for bed.  We drove home the next day. 

Chase

 I was scheduled to get induced with Chase on March 9th.  They wanted us to be there at 7:00.  We got in and settled in a room and started on Pitocin.  I progressed pretty slowly and we were just hanging out.  The IV took three tries and one burst but finally got it in.  I got the epidural around noon.  It made the right side of my body completely numb for the rest of the day, like they had to move it for me when I had to switch sides.  The epidural also took two tries cause it was new equipment so he missed the first time.  It was pretty painful.  Then they tried to break my water and couldn't so they did the balloon thing and tried again an hour or two later and got it.  I hated the numb leg and still had pretty painful contractions on my left side but just kind of dealt with it.  Chase was born at 4:06 after only a few pushes.  He was 7 lbs 13 oz and 20 inches long.  He was healthy and just had a little stuff he needed to get out of his mouth and nose.  They checked his lungs a few times to make sure but he was great.  We held him for quite a while and then fed and then moved to a recovery room.  The nurse came in to introduce herself and get all the info and check a few things and after leaving for just a few minutes I saw I was bleeding pretty bad and called the front desk.  The nurse later said they kind of thought it was probably fine but often new moms panic about nothing and then she came in and saw and that was not the case.  There was like 4 nurses called in trying to clean it up and stop it and weigh it.  My bladder was full but I couldn't walk to get to the bathroom because my leg was still numb so they tried to do a catheter and they tried hard with no success.  Oh it hurt bad and they kept pulling and stretching and pushing trying to get it in and couldn't.  So they tied like a harness around me to get me to the toilet.  Literally no dignity left at this point.  We got me and the bed cleaned up mostly and a pill put in my bum and more pitocin and it calmed down.  We got some dinner delivered right at the end of what the nurse referred to as a crime scene but I hadn't eaten for 12 hours so I was fine to eat.  It's crazy how during delivery I can just kind of deal with whatever comes and not freak out.  Kayson stayed til about midnight and went home.  I was up most of the night because I couldn't sleep and Chase was up a little.  There was no nursery anymore so no help with the baby to get some rest, but at least I got feeling back in my leg so I could get up to get him.  We got out of there as soon as we could.  They had to check Chase at 24 hours so after we got those results we left around 6 the next day.  We got dinner and drove down to see the kids and let them see Chase.  Courtney and Cole ended up wanting to come home so we brought them back with us.  On like day 3 I had eaten two cadbury eggs the night before and Chase was very unhappy all day.  We decided we couldn't play the food game again and started formula.  I pumped for a day and then what I pumped was red from bleeding so I was done.  9 days later after suffering with headaches 24/7 I finally went to the dr and found out I had a spinal headache from a spinal fluid leak from the epidural.  I had to go to the ER to get a blood patch and it took several days for it to be totally gone but it was at least better by the next day.  It was a crazy ride of not being able to sleep too, crazy night sweats, and constantly taking tylenol and advil trying to get rid of the headache.  He is here and so handsome with his blonde hair and we adore him.  

St. George

 We decided to make a last minute trip to St. George for Martin Luther King day since we had Monday and Tuesday off of school.  We booked the house on Friday and left on Saturday.  We drove on Saturday and drove straight to the children's museum.  Next to it, there was a park with scooters and a carousel and the weather felt so good so we played there for a bit before we went to the Children's Museum.  We picked up Cafe Rio for dinner (that took about an hour to actually get), saw Kayson's Uncle, made some friends, asked for a free drink and took it to the house to eat.  The kids hot tubbed and were so excited about the bunk bed room with like 6 bunk beds so everyone who wanted a top bunk got one.  The kids went to bed at like 11 I swear.  Cole watched the movie with them in teh bunk bed room but never fell asleep so we would then take him to our room to sleep on a matress on the floor. We played games and went to bed at like 1.  

Sunday morning, we ate breakfast, had church at home and then left for Zions.  We got Little Caesars and ate at a park and then headed up to Zions and did a hike to a waterfall.  The kids loved climbing off the path, seeing a deer really close up, and running around with cousins.  We then drove through the tunnel, drove back to the house and had soup and quesadillas for dinner.  The kids watched a movie again and went to bed late, we played games and added Aaron and Lori and Masen's sisters and laughed a lot and ended about midnight.  

Monday morning we went to the red rocks and had THE best time.  The kids loved climbing and running and exploring.  Kate climbed around with Ellie, Kylie and Parker and Kayson went through the slot canyon, Cole loved being up high, me and Courtney fell, and then Kayson had a work call so he went to the car for it.  Walking back to the car felt like forever but we finally made it and it was so fun.  We got good sandwiches for lunch, the kids hot tubbed and did the polar bear plunge in the pool.  We took a little time to lounge, went to a park, got chinese food for dinner and played bingo and code names, the kids watched a movie and went to bed and we played games again.  Lori and Aaron left but Masen's sisters came back for games.  

Tuesday morning, we packed while the kids played some games.  Then I took the kids for a walk with Emily and Masen while Gini packed and Kayson worked. We walked to the playground.  it was so warm and perfect but we had to go back to check out of the house.  We drove to a fun dinosaur playground and played there with Gini's kids for a bit.  We ate lunch and started home.  It was such a needed trip and we had so much fun! 

Newport

We decided this year to drive the whole way in one day since staying in a hotel seemed like too much work.  So, we left early Saturday morning and got to the villas around 4 with a stop to the store to get all our groceries.  We stopped at a few gas stations, had to sanitize and wear masks to run in to go to the bathroom.  We drove through Chick Fil A for lunch.  When we got to the villas, Cole was SO excited.  He was running around screaming "my room" and "tv... phone...light" over and over again and yelling and showing everyone his room.  Sunday was a little different since there was no church.  We all did our own church and went out and saw Kelly and Danny for a bit.  Danny had been tested for covid so we had to keep our distance but it was hard to see them so sad. We played with cousins, walked around the villas and were bored a good part of the day.  

Every other day we went to the beach from breakfast to dinner, got donuts, ate sandwiches and chips, boogie boarded, played in the sand, spike ball, baseball games, etc.  Cole struggled the first day but gradually got better.  By the end, he was fine with the sand with his shoes on, not ok with the water though.  On the first day, I took him in the water just his feet and he got knocked off his feet and then struggled after that.  He mostly ate donuts and chips and sat on Emily's lap.  The kids all slept together in their room so Cole usually woke everyone up around 6:40 when he woke up.  We played games in our room when the kids went to bed.  We had 3 high classes, the boys had 2 rounds of golf, and plenty of sun.  It was a little bit of normal and was SO nice.  The ride home went just as well, movies the whole way and happy to be home.