Nolan Asher Condie 6/8/2011

This is before all the drama.

The very last belly picture! :)

Boy do I look like I've been through heck! And I had!

Such a sweetie! 7 lb 8 oz, 20 inches long.

Everyone just adores him.

He is here! Much to my surprise he was born 5 days early! This was the first time I haven't had to watch the 40 week mark come and go. I must say that as much as I like that (my due date was today) the experience was not to my liking at all.

Here is the story: Tuesday night (6/7/11) Nate and I lay down to go to sleep around 11. Just as I was dozing off I feel this kind of gush, and I am wide awake. TMI ALERT: this post will be somewhat explicit so continue reading at your own risk :) So I get up and go into the bathroom to check my liner and it is full and pink. I start freaking out. Did my water just break??? I am in shock. I keep thinking I imagined it because I am only 39 weeks and 1 day. So I go back to bed thinking I will try and go to sleep and wait to see what happens. But of course my mind is racing and I can't sleep a wink. Finally I decide to wake Nate and see what he thinks we should do. I tell him that I think my water just broke and we both just stare at each other like "what do we do now???". So we discuss our options, stay at home and wait, or go to the hospital now. Knowing that my labors are usually short and a bit more gushing convinced us to call my dad to come over so we could go to the hospital.

So Nate packs the car and I get dressed. Luckily he has the presence of mind to put a towel in the car because by the time we get to the hospital I am drenched. So we get checked in, and get our room. I am still leaking a lot, but having short painless contractions. So we settle down to wait.

Side-note: I had earlier decided that I was going to do this delivery au naturale, because I barely got the epidural in time with Maddy and we were going to have to fork out 10% of the cost.

Ok, so I have these increasingly uncomfortable contractions from about 11:30-3:30 when I finally decide to wake Nate because I am getting to where I can't handle them anymore. As soon as I wake him and he joins me by the bed I start shaking uncontrollably. Not cold, just anxious I think. The contractions were very close together and getting unbearable. Nolan was face-up so I was having the most horrible back labor. Finally I ask him to tell the nurse I want an epidural. I felt like such a failure! I just couldn't take one more contraction. They were so hard and so close together that I could barely talk in between them. The Dr finally arrives and they get me to sit up. That was agony! I could barely sit, and I was shaking so bad I could hardly sit still enough to let him get the thing in. I kept telling myself, just one more, just one more. I wanted to be numb so bad! Let me just say that epidural took forever to kick in, and then it was only working on my right side, so I roll to my left to let gravity pull it down and true to form I feel the need to push. They checked me before the epidural and I was a 4, 30 minutes later, just after the epidural I was at a 10! That explained a lot. So they call the Dr. and then I start to feel better. When he arrives I am calm and can talk again. We start pushing and 13 minutes later Nolan arrives! :)

Sweet relief! There is no greater feeling than just after delivering a baby :) And I didn't even tear! He came out screaming his head off and with the crabbiest expression on his face. But none of that mattered to me. He was alive, and I was feeling great! I continued to shake for several hours after, weird. Nerves I think.

So this was the second time I barely got the epidural in time! I wonder if I can get it when I am only 3 cm next time??? This delivery left me with a sour taste in my mouth. Not at all what I was anticipating. And so much more painful than I remember! :( As of right now, 3 kids sounds perfect to me ;)

Gross and disturbing!

This post is not for the faint of heart, or weak of stomache. The pictures are graphic, but if you have seen them on facebook already you are prepared. One night after having put the kids to bed, Nathan and I were enjoying some quiet time in the living room. About 45 minutes after putting the kids to bed Madalyn comes out. Not crying, just wimpering, and I walk her back to her room. She is trying to tell me something that I am not understanding. Something about a light, and it coming out. When we finally get back to her room she walks over to the electrical outlet and tells me that she put a barrette in it and the light came out! She then tells me that her finger hurts. I run her to the bathroom and turn on the light to find her middle finger charred and black with a large crack down the middle. Yes a crack. Dry, and black. Not bleeding. Well, being the very calm and collected person I am...I immediately freak out, which leads to Madalyn realizing how bad the situation really is and she begins to cry :( Nathan comes and I explain what happened. So what do we do next? Ruch her to the emergency room? Oh no, Nathan has to call his ER friend and find out if we really need to take her. I call my dad and ask him to come over to be with Corbin while we go to the hospital. In my mind, there is no question, we are going to the hospital. When Nate finally gets off of the phone he isn't sure if we should or not, so I say better safe than sorry, let's go! We had given her some Motrin and she had calmed down again. So off we went. A couple of hours later, we were given a band-aid and some neosporin, a blanket, book, juice, yogurt and Cheetohs and sent on our way. That was the most expensive band-aid I have ever bought, but the peace of mind was priceless. We found out she had done th best possible thing in the situation. She had placed the open barrette simultaneously into both sides of the socket which meant that it was grounded, and so it only zapped out, instead of traveling through her body! Scary! But she was really fine, only some singe marks on her fingers and the open wound. By the next day the crack in her finger had filled in, as you will see shortly, and she was feeling all better. She also learned a valuable lesson about light sockets. We were just so happy that she was ok.

The offending barrette.

A lesson learned

So, it was raining. Not just a little bit either. It was positively pouring buckets, raining cats and dogs, I mean really! I figured it was pretty warm and so I wore flip-flops to take Corbin to preschool. That was a mistake. The flip flops succeeding in "flipping" water all the way up the back of my legs! All the way to my bottom. So heed my advice, "flip flops are not for rain", especially when rivers are forming on the sidewalks. :)

Also, it is very hard to take a picture of your own tush! I tried several times to get from my feet all the way up, but to no avail.

When it rains, it floods :(

So imagine waking up on a cold sunday morning in late January to cries of "MOM! DAD! There is water in the basement!!!". Our kids went down to watch a movie and found some water. Our basement had flooded before so I had expectations of what I would find when I got down there. So I didn't see much, remember I was just rudely awakened, and I stepped onto the floor which was covered in foam tiles only to sink! That was pretty scary. There was 2 inches of water across our entire basement! And boy was it COLD. Apparantly this is what happened: we had a thaw that melted all of the snow and caused the sump pump to work over time. Then it got cold again and when the pump was pushing the water out the water froze in the pipes. Since the water had no where to go the sump pump was working hard, and continuously until it died. Hence the 2 inches of water in the basement. It took 2 days, a rented pump and fans, several men, and a new sump pump to fix the problem. We also learned that water was seeping in between the cinder blocks in the wall. Fun! :) Fortunately everything was safe, we didn't lose anythign to water damage, and no one was hurt. What an experience. We will never forget this. This is fuzzy because I was running. That water was freezing! It froze you to your bones.

It is hard to see but all of that is water. The entire floor is covered.

This shows you why I couldn't see the water when I came downstairs. The foam tiles completely masked it. It was a very interesting experience to sink into the floor when I wasn't expecting it!

Just a Quick One

I just finished my second to last semester at UNLV! Only 16 weeks to go! :) It feels good to be done. I did very well. All A's! Unbelievable. Especially considering all that went on the last few months. Just as a quick recap:

Corbin started Kindergarten- He loves it!
Nate and I ran the Mackinac Island Great Turtle Race- I ran the whole 5.7 miles!
I had to add a 6th class to be able to finish all my classes by next May
We found out I am pregnant with our 3rd child! (That's why I had to add the 6th class)
Nate's baby brother got married
My sisters and families came out here for Thanksgiving! :) It was so fun!
We had Family pictures done for the first time since Madalyn was a year old.

I will try and catch up with the Blog over the next 4 weeks that I have off. There is so much to say and do! We are going to have the baby in June, towards the middle, hopefully after Corbin gets done with school. And a mere 4 weeks after I finish my last semester. Anyway! Pictures to follow, keep checking back!

Madalyn turns 3

It is amazing how time flies! I can't believe my baby is growing up. Madalyn's Birthday happened to fall on a Sunday this year. I bought her this dress to wear to church and to her party. She loved it. I even painted her nails a similar color. She felt like the princess she is.

Later after church we had Grandma and Papa over and we opened gifts. She got a Barbie movie with many of the songs featured in the Barbie movies she loves so much. This is a huge hit at our house. She loves to sing along with the songs and she expects me to know all the words as well.

Grandma and Papa got her this beautiful, sparkly Barbie which she loves. I love it too because the body suit is painted on. So no nakedness :)

We got her this video game to use on Corbin's Leapster. She was pretty excited that she was actually going to get to use the hallowed Leapster. Corbin wouldn't let her play with it really before he agreed to let her use it for her game.

This girl loves stickers and princesses, so wouldn't you know she was over the moon about hi gift. We sit and do it when Corbin is at school which makes it extra special.

Madalyn had been asking Grandma for months for a piggy bank. Corbin was jealous. He wanted one too. And this one happened to be his favorite color as well.

But the best present of the day was dress-ups! If there is one thing that both of my kids love to play more than anything, it is dress-up. So Grandma and I both got her an assortment of dressups clothes.

She kinda looks like a combination of Snow White and Little Red Riding Hood.

So pretty!

This one is meant to be like a mermaid, which she loves!

Happy Birthday to you!

Blow baby!

She actually enjoyed eating the frosting off of the candle more than eating the cupcake. Next year I will remember she doesn't like cake and get an ice cream cake instead. Overall it was a wonderful day full of love and excitement. We are so in love with this sweet girl and so glad she is a part of our lives and our family. She is a treasure.

Chaos Reigns :(

I never cease to be amazed by just how much damage two little kids can inflict when left to their own devices! This is what Nathan and I found when returning home from helping Dad move into their new house on New Years weekend. Poor Grandma was left to watch the kids alone, and she can't do the stairs so she had no idea what they were doing in the basement :( She felt terrible though when I showed her these pictures. Unbelievable. Really. There are no words. Well, not any decent ones ;)

Yes, that is toilet paper. Yes we buy at Sam's Club, and yes it was a brand new package. And yes we actually used it. We put it all in a big trash bag and used it until it was all gone. Cuz we are cheap like that.

We also learned that kids will do naughty things again and again and again. And you do have to watch them every second. Or they will destroy, destroy, destroy.

Shaving at 4 years old

Corbin got this Batman shaving kit for Christmas and this is his first time using it. We had a great time painting his face and he reallyenjoyed pretending to shave. He is a natural!

He is so funny. He got so excited about his experience and couldnt' wait to share it with dad. Luckily dad got home in time to see him all painted up and shaving.

The Spotsies

Do you ever have those weeks where everything seems to go badly? Well, we had that this past week. It all ended up working out fine, but there was no end of frustration while it was happening. So here is what happened to us on Thursday. I had plans to work on some preschool things with my friends and have a playdate. I was having it here because our dishwasher was supposed to be delivered and installed. So the kids got up a little late, around 7 (aren't you jealous?!) and I had to get their milk from the downstairs refridgerator because we were all out upstairs. So I put a box of butter and a bag of bread out to take upstairs with the milk, and then I proceeded to put a movie on for the kids. While I was setting up the movie Corbin tells me that he is kind of itchy. So I turn around and I look where he is scratching. His wrist is all covered in red spots. Then I see that they go all the way up his arm. I followed the spots up to his face where they were much darker and scarier. At first I thought they were mosquito bites, but there were far too many of them for that. And they didn't look anything like mosquito bites on his cheeks. My next thought propelled me to action. Could they possibly be chicken pox???
Oh no! Please no! He had only been to school for ONE day! How could he have chicken pox? So I immediatley rushed upstairs and called Nate, and then the Pediatrician. Of course, neither one was available to chat. So I got online and tried to figure out what they were. Well, some of them kind of looked like the beginnings of chicken pox, but others not so much. They didn't look anything like a rach caused by poisonous plants either. So I called the Dr again and made an appointment. Luckily they could fit us in that very morning. But I had to cancel my playdate plans.
Oh and do you remember the milk and bread and butter I left out downstairs? Well it would have been nice if I had remembered them. They got left out for 2 hours while I was running around like a crazy person. In fact the kids found them and put them away in their toy kitchen which was pretty cute, and if I hadn't been so stressed out I would have taken a picture. They even put the milk in the play dishwasher :) So cute.
So we go to the Dr and she says that she thinks it is an allergic reaction to the pennicillin he's been on for more than a week for his strep throat. I was floored. He's allergic to pennicillin??? That's really annoying. I just hope I can remember to tell all the right people that now. Oh dear.
But at least it wasn't chicken pox! I was already starting to calculate how much money it was going to cost us to keep him home from school for 2 weeks. So I was very grateful for that. Here are some pictures from that morning and when we were at the Dr's office. I know the close ups aren't too good, I'm still learning how to work this camera :)

I wish you could have seen this in person. It looked much worse than the pictures convey.

This is the first place I noticed it. The spots go all the way up and around his arm. They also extend to his chest and back.

Hives, hives everywhere, and not a drop of Benadryl (ok so that isn't entirely true, I just wasn't sure I could give him any, it says on the box not to use it on chicken pox).

He looked so bad an miserable, the poor guy!

He did so good though. He only complained a tiny bit. And he still played happily the entire time. He called his hives "the spotsies". It was so cute. "When you are sick you have the spotsies right mom?" Love this kid!

Here we are at the office waiting for the results. This is also a great example of his silly rabbit smile.

Yay! It's not chicken pox! Wuhoo! We can all breathe a sigh of relief! I am also grateful to know at this point in his short life that he is allergic to pennicillin. Hives we can deal with. Anaphylactic shock? Not so much. I tell you it has been one difficult situation after another this week but the Lord has provided an easy way out every time. I am learning a lot.

Corbin's First First Day of School :oD

Well, it finally happened. My little boy grew up! I think it must have been overnight. I still can't believe he is old enough to be in school. He goes three days a week and has a wonderful teacher; Miss Hill.
He wanted to wear all Spiderman. It was the theme of the day. He had a hoodie, a shirt, shoes, and backpack that were all Spiderman. He was so excited to show his teacher all of his new things.

He was so excited that he didn't even wait for Madalyn and I, he just started walking up to the school. It was a foggy morning, as you can see.

He was asking me something about the wall that I didn't understand, and I was trying to get him to look at me so we could take the picture. So this is what we ended up with.

This is going to be a frequent stop for us :)

He looks so grown up standing there.

He is so excited to start school! Poor Maddy was a little concerned. She wasn't sure what was happening.

Here is Corbin's class. He is on the middle right, behind a little boy's head. Sorry he moved when I was taking the picture.

One thing I love about Corbin is his ability to talk to anyone. Here he is trying to make a new friend! It warms my heart.

Good job listening and being attentive, now if only you could do that at home ;)

He is getting ready to walk in with his class. The teacher asked the kids to turn around and wave good-bye. She had to remind Corbin twice. He was so excited that he didn't want to have to turn around and say good-bye. At least he isn't crying and throwing a fit.
Yes I did get a little teary at this point. It was a big moment! I would have been remiss if I hadn't.

Maddy and I spent the morning shopping for things for her preschool that we are dong with some friends in the ward. Here she is checking out the bug superhighways while we wait to pick up Corbin from school.

Poor Miss Hill had her hands full trying to keep these excited kids from bolting to their excited parents. I couldn't wait to hear how his day went.
All he would tell me was that he loved it and he wants to play with the knight toy on Friday. Ikind of expected that though :)

The first thing he did was run up and give Madalyn a big hug and tell her that he missed her! How cute is that???

I just love these guys! They are so great together.

I asked for smiles and got growly faces. Go figure.

Then I got tiger claws to go with the growly faces! Raarrr!














All in all, he had a great time. I found out after school that he didn't listen at recess and got left outside with another class. We need to work on his listening skills. But no harm done. He passed his preschool initiation with flying colors :)