Christmas Card

Dear Ones,

Kyle and I had a roller coaster ride into parenthood. We want to thank everyone for their prayers and words of encouragement offered on our behalf while Jason was in the Newborn Intensive Care Unit (NICU). I have included a quick summary and update for those who are interested in reading it.

We welcomed Jason Kyle Robbins into this world on June 30 after a long labor and delivery that included 4 hours of pushing and forceps. At 9 lbs and 3 oz, he appeared to be a robust, healthy boy. We were able to spend a few precious minutes holding and nursing him before they took him to the nursery for his big checkup. Much to our surprise, they came back and told us that he had been moved to the NICU because he was having trouble breathing. We soon learned that he was having trouble breathing because he was born with a small right lung, and he had also developed pneumonia. Needless to say, we were heart-sick knowing we would have to leave the hospital without him and not knowing how long he would have to stay there.

We were very blessed because Jason’s stay in the hospital lasted only two weeks (although they were a very long two weeks for us). He progressed quickly through the different breathing devices until he was able to breathe normally at room air.

Jason has continued to thrive at home. At five months we did another x-ray to see if anything had changed with his lung. It still is small, but the x-ray did not show anything else amiss. We still don’t know what caused the small lung, but it could possibly be genetic. In January we will consult a pulmonologist at Primary Children’s Hospital just to make sure everything is OK, but right now we have every reason to believe he will continue to live a healthy, normal life.

Kyle will graduate from BYU in April with both his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Accounting. In June he will start working in Salt Lake for CBIZ (an accounting firm). I am lucky enough to stay at home full-time with Jason.

Thank you again for all your prayers, help, and encouragement. We know God blessed us with many miracles during that trying time and that He continues to bless us now.

Love,

Kate, Kyle, and Jason

A Visit From the Tooth Fairy Gone Wrong

So last weekend Jason had a visit from the tooth fairy, but it was a nasty two night visit and he didn't get any money. Last Friday we went to my work's Christmas Party up in Salt Lake. Kate's sister Brooke was awesome enough to babysit for us (thanks Neuenschwanders!) and we spent the night at their place so we wouldn't have to make Jason miss his now early bed-time.

Jason loved Brooke and she was able to put him to sleep without crying! (which is actually a very common occurrence nowadays). Unfortunately he woke up around 11:00 to eat and after that he decided he needed to wake up ever hour crying. We kept wondering if he was too cold, if he didn't like sleeping in his pack-n-play, or if his eczema was bothering him. The last thing that crossed our minds was that he was teething, but sure enough the next day Kate noticed a little tooth poking out of his gums. That night he also had a rough time, but not quite as bad as the night before.

Jason now has a little tooth, but luckily he is sleeping better again. At least until that evil tooth fairy comes again...

Finals are Done!

Today I finished my last final. Woohoo! One more semester to go!

Smashing Solid Success

We finally did it. We fed Jason his first solid food: rice cereal. And it was a smashing success! I finally broke down and did it even though he's not quite 6 months because he was still hungry after nursing. We fed him a little bit and thought, "that's enough for the first time," so we started to take it away, but Jason started crying. The only way we could get him to stop crying was to feed him more. And more. And more.





In addition to eating solids, Jason also rolls 90 degrees, that is to say, onto his side. He has yet to roll onto his stomach unassisted, but he is enjoying his side immensely because it allows him to play with so many more things. He also rolled over onto his side to sleep when I put him back in his crib last night after a nighttime feeding.

Synagis

Synagis is an effective drug for preventing Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) in premature babies and children with other medical problems, but it is a very expensive drug. Because of Jason's lung condition, he is considered at high risk for contracting RSV, so our insurance has agreed to help pay for Synagis.

Synagis is only effective if it is dosed every 28-31 days. We had our first shot yesterday, and we will go in for a new shot in January, February, March, and April. Sadly for Jason, this means he gets 5 extra shots compared with other babies, but we feel it is worth it. Cousin Brynn is also getting Synagis.

Merry Early Christmas

Merry Early Christmas! We couldn't wait until Christmas to open one of Jason's presents: a space-saver high chair (saves space by strapping onto a kitchen chair). We didn't even wrap it, we (Kyle) just set it up as soon as we brought it home. Jason seems to enjoy it, and we do too. Jason used to complain when Kyle and I would eat dinner while he was away in the corner in his swing, so I would take pity on him and let him sit on my lap while I ate. But his hands are getting craftier and craftier, making that scenario more and more dangerous. We are all happy with the new set-up because Jason can be right at the table with us while we eat without fear of getting food dumped on our laps.

So far the high chair has been used only for hanging out while mom and dad eat. I haven't actually used the high chair to feed him solids yet because my plan is to wait until he is 6 months, but he will be used to the chair by the time we begin that exciting phase of life.


Who needs food when you can eat straps? Mmmm, Delicious!



The man of the day for enthusiastically putting the high-chair together (and all of Jason's other contraptions). Thanks for your skills. Now Jason can have fun while he watches you eat your potato, broccoli, cheddar soup.

We'll see how many other presents we open early. I suspect the new digital camera won't be far behind the high chair because ours is on the fritz.

It's Raining.... In Our Closet

PREFACE
Our apartment has three bedrooms, and the back bedroom is a large master bedroom with its own bathroom.

THE STORY
Friday night Kyle and I were able to go to the BYU basketball game. Yippee for date night! When we left home, all was well. When we got home, I made my way back to our bedroom to start getting ready for bed, only to find water dripping from the door frames of our closet and bathroom. While I rushed to get buckets to catch the water, Kyle ran to the upstairs apartment to find out what was going on. Luckily for us, two of the three girls had just gotten home from Thanksgiving break an hour earlier. But since neither of them lived in the back room, they did not know there was a water problem. They rushed back to the room to find the bathroom faucet running and a mini pond covering the carpet and linoleum nearest the bathroom.

Apparently the u-bend of the sink had a large leak, so the girl who lived in the room put a bucket underneath to catch the water. Somehow she managed to leave the faucet ON when she left in the morning (don't ask me how), and the bucket quickly overflowed, leading several hours later to a pond in her room and rain below in our room.

Fortunately we found the dripping in our room fairly quickly, so our carpet did not get too wet, but I am surprised two days later to still feel some slight dampness. We can see some bubbling in the seams where the wall meets the ceiling. The damage doesn't look like too much, but I do worry about mold problems if it takes a while to get fixed . Although we are not worried about the cost of repairs since it wasn't our fault, we are not excited for the certain future headaches of dealing with insurance companies and repairs. What a pain.

Hair Cut

I finally did it. Today I chopped at least 6 inches off my hair, and it feels nice. I've had long hair ever since I went to college, so I was a little nervous to cut so much off, but I am happy with the change, especially since Jason was getting better at wrapping his fingers through the strands.


BEFORE:
AFTER:

MISSING:

Little white sock
Lost on our walk
Looked the next day
It's gone away

Thankful for Sleep Routines

I am thankful for sleep routines. Not that we had success with them today (it was a REALLY off day following a really late bedtime caused by family socializing), but we did have success Friday night.

Jason fell asleep for the night at 7:00 pm and did not wake up until 4:40 am! Almost a 10 hour stretch and a new record! (Before you congratulate us, please know that he did this only once and has returned to his twice-a-night feedings.) I actually woke up before he did from discomfort. From what I can figure, I must have had more than the usual amount of milk available, and he was so hungry and so tired, that he consumed more than was good for him. As I was preparing to move him back to bed, he spit up twice, which was unusual for him (he is 99% spit-up free). Then, after I placed him bed, Jason proceeded to spew a fountain of milk, soaking his clothes, blanket, hair, and bed. It was so much, I was afraid he was sick. But after cleaning him up, he seemed perfectly fine, and dangerously alert for 5:00 in the morning. Kyle started to rock him back to sleep, but Jason's big eyes just stared up at him. Kyle finally decided to do the sleep routine again. And guess what--it worked! As soon as Kyle started singing the song, Jason's eyes drooped shut. We were so grateful he was able to go back to sleep so easily after the ordeal. Now if only his mom could have fallen back asleep as easily.....

Robbins' Inferno

First Circle of Robbins' Inferno: Sleep Training

Yes, my friends, we finally hunkered down and did the much needed, much dreaded sleep training. If you've talked with me recently, you've undoubtedly heard me complain of Jason's bad sleeping habits. Not that I can blame him entirely--it certainly stemmed from a bad combination of nature and nurture. After FOUR long months of trying many different "no cry" sleep strategies; of rocking him to sleep and lying him gently down only to have him wake up five minutes later and repeating the process two, three, or four times; of often giving up and letting him sleep in my arms once, twice, or three times a day; of rushing to pass him to Kyle in his sleeping state so my oncoming sneeze or cough or laugh would not awaken my sleeping babe; of waiting for him to grow out of these bad habits as his brain matured; we decided the only way we were going to fix our bad sleeping habits was to let him cry.

Because we've had such an ordeal with his sleeping, I have read my two sleep books over and over, trying to figure out what to do. I finally decided we had to do the "let cry" strategy, but we kept putting it off because we were afraid he was too young, but mostly we were afraid to go through it. We were finally inspired to take the plunge after our ward friends, the Wells, told us they were doing it with their boy. Kyle and I had a long talk with them on Friday evening about all the details of their sleep training saga, and we decided, if they can do it, why can't we. We started that night with the extra encouragement from the Wells.

Before continuing with the story, I should clarify the goals of our sleeping training:
1. Teach him how to sooth himself to sleep in his crib after a set nap/bedtime routine-- no rocking him to sleep.
2. Go to him no more than 2 times at night for feedings. Eliminate additional night wakings by not going into his room.
3. Get an earlier bedtime.
4. Help him take longer naps.

The first night Jason cried for 1 hour 45 minutes. For all you parents who have never had to go through this, or who have never had to go through this for that long, consider yourself BLESSED. Talk about getting drained emotionally as parents. The naps the following day were preceded by 55, 55, 35, and 60 minutes of crying. (Note: for naps we pick him up after 60 minutes of crying). But the second night, it only took him 20 minutes before he fell asleep. We were very encouraged by the rapid improvement. Each night the crying periods shortened until last night (the 5th night) he went down with NO CRYING AT ALL! Additionally, he only woke up for 1 feeding after sleeping a 7 hour stretch!

I would love to report that Jason is totally sleep trained according to our goals, but unfortunately I can't do that quite yet. Nonetheless, I am giddy with excitement at his rapid progress. It is incredibly liberating to walk out of his room after the routine and know that he can cry a lot, a little, or not at all, leaving me the time to do what I want. Here is our progress corresponding to the goals:

1. Teach him how to sooth himself to sleep in his crib after a set nap/bedtime routine-- no rocking him to sleep.

He now plays/fusses/cries anywhere from 0-20 minutes.

2. Go to him no more than 2 times at night for feedings. Eliminate additional night wakings by not going into his room.

The first night he woke up in between the 2 feedings, but we didn't go to him and it only took him 5 minutes to get himself back to sleep. However, we are guilty of sneaking in twice during the past five nights and sticking the pacifier back in to put him back to sleep quickly, but we promise we won't do it past 6 months of age (when he might make a game out of it).

3. Get an earlier bedtime.

Total success. He now goes to bed between 7:00 and 7:30 pm and wakes up between 7:00 and 7:30 am.

4. Help him take longer naps.

Zero success. Our training hasn't changed his short naps. He still naps for just 40 minutes, which means he still takes 4 naps a day. I guess we still have to wait for him to get older to fix this problem, although I suspect he was born a short napper. We just wish his brain would hurry up with this one because he sure acts like he could use longer naps.

Kyle and Jason enjoying "That's Not My Lion" during the nap-time routine. We read it every time to help him understand the associations. Jason with his zoned-out look that helps us know he is ready for sleep.

Jason likes his new routines.

"Thanks for sleep training me mom and dad! I promise I'll try to stop crying completely before sleep times, but I don't want to take longer naps because you guys are so cool and so fun to hang out with."

Pictures from our Strolls

Walking Kyle Home from School

Jason and I have taken advantage of this beautiful fall weather by taking walks to pick Kyle up from school. We've even gone to the library and visited Heather on campus. We all enjoy it very much. I will be sad when colder weather puts a stop to these daily excursions. I guess we'll have to move them to BYU's indoor track, but that won't be as easy because we will have to fight for parking.

Our timing of having Jason has been perfect for us because it is so much fun to see Kyle in between his classes. Because it is Kyle's last year, he doesn't have as large of a work load, so he can spend more time with us. It has been especially nice for me to get breaks since we have sleep problems with Jason (more on this tomorrow). I think I would struggle a lot more right now if Kyle had to be gone all day for work.

Mr. Green, in the Nursery, with the Pacifier

I don't think anyone could figure out what we were trying to be for Halloween, but we had fun anyway. We were characters from the game CLUE:

Colonel Mustard


Miss Scarlet


And Jason as Mr. Green


Don't worry though, nobody died.

Hat Season

I think Jason is so stinkin' cute in hats. I am having fun putting them on him in this fall weather. I guess it is fun because he hasn't figured out how to pull them off. No luck with smiles from him in these pictures (maybe it was too cold-- the drool froze his face in normal position).

Happy Birthday Kyle!

As of October 28, Kyle is 25. He can now rent a car without paying extra insurance. Wahoo. He can also rent a golf cart on Catalina Island. We wanted to do that on our honeymoon--but we couldn't because we weren't old enough. We thought it was pretty ironic that we were "independent adults" but we couldn't rent a golf cart.

I surprised Kyle by having Heather, Mitch, Curtis, Linda, and couple accounting friends over for cake and ice cream last night. I didn't have any candles for the cake, so I had him blow out a regular fragrance candle. Good times. I also figured out how to help Jason enjoy tummy time: wrap a present on the floor in front of him; he thought it was great.


Tonight Grandma Diane is babysitting while we go to Tucano's for dinner. They have the best birthday deal in town: free dinner for the birthday boy! Much more exciting than free desert; who really has room for it anyway? After dinner we will try to make it to the temple for a sealing session. Thanks for letting us go, mom. Have fun with this cute face.

Pictures from Heather's Wedding

Our first family pictures taken at Heather's wedding. Thanks for paying for the photography, Heather! Jason had just started smiling, but we couldn't catch a smile for these pictures because he was tired, so a yawn had to do.

Happy 3rd Anniversary

We've been married three years and are still in love! How sad that many marriages don't make it this far. We celebrated a couple days late, but it was still just as exciting. We went bowling and ate dinner at Magleby's Oyster Bar and Grill. We chose things that were close to home and fairly quick so that we could coordinate around Jason's feeding schedule. Thanks to Linda and Curtis for babysitting.