Drama, The good and the bad

Last night we went and saw Joseph and the Technicolor Dream Coat. My sister in law and niece were in it, which made it even more fun. I always dread going and trying to do stuff like this because I have VERY active children and sitting still for 2 hrs is just simply not possible for them, especially at 8 pm (which is bed time). So as I expected getting ready and getting there was just torture, fighting, whining (which is my least favorite form of communication), and complaining. Once we get to the theater they start misbehaving and running around that is until the show starts. So long story short they both LOVE drama and I need to remember to give them the benefit of the doubt.

Thanks Vicki for a great night!

So as promissed I have pics of Odessa practicing for her dance recital next week. She is so excited, anyone who wants to come can on thursday at the lehi legacy center, Its only 30min!

Final days of Summer

Well here I am again posting after an all to long break in posts. I promose that some day I will be more efficient and post more regularly, but until then here is what I got. This summer has gone by so fast! I was going to school full time, working and being a mommy to four very busy little people. This by its self makes me tired just thinking of it, but to add to that we also had a few additional life changes.

WE MOVED TO A NEW HOUSE!

There it is our very first private single family house, granted its a rental but still its all ours for the next year. I love it we have a garage and a fully fenced backyard, plus we are one block from a park and a fishing pond.

Our next big adventure was T-Ball. Alex is officially a BOY he has completed a full season of T-Ball (He even has a metal to prove it,lol). T-ball was a very interesting mix of organized sports and choas since the players do not have to follow any real rules, while playing a game with TONS of important rules. Still he did great and even overcame his fear of getting hit in the head with a ball!

Odessa had a new activity this summer as well, she is in dance class. It is so fun to watch her do little girly things. She is such a brute in everyday life that it is rare to see her in this way! Her final performance is on August 13th (pics to come!).

Now that all being said, I am so excited and scared of whats next: The big K work, thats right KINDERGARTEN. My first born, my baby, is starting kindergarten in two weeks. Ok so I guess a better way to summarize what I am feeling is terrified! I have no idea how to do this part. I get babies and I get teens, but I know nothing about the in betweens. I guess this will just be a day by day and then by the time I figure it out it will be to late to change. I guess thats parenting!

Also about the same time as Alex starts kindergarten I will be an official full time benefitted employee with Primary Childrens Medical Center. This means that I will be at work 36 scheduled hours per week. In exchange I will have medical, dental, vision, paid time off, and retirement. This is a huge relief because for the last few years the winter has hit our pocket books hard and this will provide a nice "pillow".

Well I guess thats it for now but I will update soon with Odessa's dance pics!

Home again...

Well, as you probably guessed, we are home. After only 20 rediculous hours filled with lights and blood draws we were released and told to "follow up with your doctor". His bili levels were down to an incredible number of 14! The nurse acted as though this was a miracle, to me this just made sense. But my miracle would happen later.

The next evening we had his bili drawn one last time, as we were asked, and then I washed my hands of the whole thing and moved on with my first weekend as a new family. On Monday we had a previously scheduled appt. for both Spencer and Josiah, so I found myself back at the Doctors office, but with a little more confidence in myself.

(Here is where my miracle starts)

The appointment starts like any other, the nurse comes in takes vitals, weights, and asks questions and then we wait...This is the worst part as I am waiting I imagine all the crappy things he could say along the lines of I told you so, or see I was right. Then as he is finally walking in my stomach drops and I am prepared for battle. He sits on the stool and says...I am sorry...WHAT!? You said what? I am not even sure what he exactly said next but I am sure he said I am sorry. This was my miracle, a doctor, a person trained to believe he is a god, has just apologized to ME. He then spend the visit telling me how great my kids look and how my babies weight gain is amazing (he is already 2 oz. over birth weight). I leave so energized so refreshed, it was exactly what I needed after a LONG first week.

WOW

So for the first time I am posting to my very own blog! I am both excited and embarrased because although I have had several GREAT blog moments since the creation of this page, I have written of none of them! So in the next few days, hoping to redeem myself, I am going to attempt to catch up on the last three weeks.

Spencer's Misadventure!

Spencer came to us early the morning of April 26th. He is a teenie little thing, weighing in at a whopping 5 lbs 2 ozs! He is 19" long so you can imagine that he is mostly a long, thin, stick baby.

He went to his first Dr.'s appointment yesterday where his Dr. insisted a bilirubin be drawn. And the verdict. It's really high. Yes our little guy had a critical bili of 19.5. The Dr. was incredibly concerned and wanted to IMMEDIATELY admit him to the hospital, where he would be placed under lights and "observed". I was SO proud of Jess when she tearfully told him that she didn't see HOW going to the hospital and being away from his mom who loves him and FEEDS him would be of the greatest benefit to him. She wanted to have the lights at HOME and take care of him herself (bili lights at home are very common for babies with jaundice). It wasn't until the Dr. threatened to DROP him as a patient that she started to second guess herself.

After some bartering with the Doc as to what hospital the baby would be admitted to and what Unit he would be on, (she wanted him in a private room where she could stay with him all the time and be his primary care giver) she took him to the hospital where he was admitted and placed under the lights. (YES THE SAME LIGHTS HE WOULD HAVE BEEN PLACED UNDER AT HOME.) The first bili check they did came back higher. 20.8. But the next one drawn only 8 hours later was down to 17.5!!!

So hopefully Spencer will be coming home tonight. :o)

Karilynn's opinion: The following is how I, Karilynn, the aunt who thinks Dr.'s are full of crap, actually feels about the above situation.

Bottom line here. MOM WAS RIGHT! Spencer needed the light therapy which could have been given at home and no other interventions. The doctor, who happens to be a pretty nice guy, got way too excited and may have been biased by the glasses he had on when the baby came in. (The glasses I am referring to are the "oh no, this baby was born at home, I must find something wrong" glasses!) I am THRILLED that the next time Jess goes to the Dr. she will be able to let him know that she was RIGHT and he was wrong to which I'm sure he will reply something along the lines of... "well yes, but WHAT IF?" Heaven forbid we live every moment of our life always worrying about what might be.
IT IS WHAT IT IS. And what it is, is a very common illness that is treatable at home.

Intro.

This blog is meant to document the insanity that is the life of a mom with 4 children ages 5 and under. It promises to be full of laughter and tears.. but mostly laughter. Some days Jessica will be posting and some days it will be ME, the awesome AUNT to the little ones and SIL to Jess. Hopefully it will soon be only Jessica blogging but as she is a VERY busy mama... she occasionally calls me and dictates her stories, in which case I transcribe them and add a few twists! ;o) Life in the Bartlett home has been dramatically (and beautifully uprooted) as they have recently welcomed another little guy into their family!
The theory behind this blog is that when crazy stuff happens and you're a regular old mom, your first thought might be, "OH !@#$%!!!!" But when you are a blogging mommy the first thought tends to turn to, "OH GEEZE WHERE'S THE CAMERA? I'VE GOT TO GET THIS ON THE BLOG!" ;o) And in a house with 4 little ones, opportunities to cuss or snap pics are APLENTY!