Walmart adventures...

So, Karl needed some items for a YM activity. He asked if I could go get them today. I thought sure, I can do that, I've been meaning to pick up some items at Walmart anyway. So I loaded the 3 crazy boys into the van and off we went.

I needed to drop some overdue books off at the library, so that was our first stop. I should have known it was going to be a bad trip when on the way back a not so pleasant odor started wafting up form the back. When we got to Walmart I change a wiggly, non cooperative Kayson, which left my hands not so very clean.

After cleaning up that mess, we proceed inside. Last time I went to Walmert, I put Chase in the baby bjorn. That left a trail of spit up all over Walmart, so this time I decided to just take him in the car seat. I put all the trust I could find in Kayson, and asked him to walk next to me while we were in the store. We begin our shopping.

Have you met Kayson? If you have, you know he doesn't walk anywhere. He runs. REALLY fast. After chasing him down 18 times in as many seconds, I place the boy in the cart and tell him to sit down. I begin stacking items around the lad and we continue on.

I feel like NOW we're doing pretty good. I've made it through the food items on my list, and now we are heading. To the baby department to pick up some of the items I needed. As I am picking them up, I slip as I walk through something slimy. I look down, and some crazy shopper has dropped some eggs. I think to myself, why don't people tell the employees when things spill?

(Now, before I go on, I needed to make some excuses for myself. Riser and Kayson have been sick and haven't been sleeping well. Add that to a 4 month old who ha decided he'd better check in 3 or 4 times a night, it means that I haven't had a very good night's sleep in quite a while. If I had, I surely would have been a little quicker on the uptake... right?)

Anyway, I warn Riser about the mess and tell him not to step in it and we continue... a few steps later it happens again... I think sheesh people really, how could you have made such a mess (I know, seriously, I still hadn't figured out what was going on... I'm still feeling a little embarrassed about that) I warn Riser again and move on. Finally, when I slip in the mess in a 3RD area, the pieces click... Eggs... I bought eggs... they're in the cart with Kayson... I look at Kayson, now covered in eggs and about die. The boy has been squishing them and tossing them out the bottom. FABULOUS. Luckily, an employee walks by, I alert him to my mess which pretty well covers the entire baby department. He takes my broken eggs for me and calls for clean up.

We continue on. we go back for more eggs, I put them up by Chase. I'm soooo on the ball. I round a corner, and slip AGAIN. And this time somehow manage to run over my own foot. I think to myself, the eggs are up here I can see them!! I say "Kayson is that us again? What did you spill?" I look in to see the bottle of kid's shampoo open and pointing down through the cart I look behind us and see the long line of shampoo I've somehow managed to avoid up until now. I close the bottle, pull the boy out of the cart, and make my way as quickly as I can to front of the store. Kayson begins wailing because he wants to walk. Chase begins wailing because he is scared of Kayson's wailing. I walk faster. AS we're moving right along, Riser trips over something... His foot or his flip flop perhaps, and falls on the floor. He begins wailing too. I pick him up try to comfort him the best I can one handed and then realize that it's just not going to work, so I start walking again... 3 children bawling as we go. We reach the checkouts, and I use a 2o item or less self check out lane even though I have well over 20 items. It was the only check out stand with no line. It remained the only stand with no line the entire time I checked out... can't think why... As I check out, Kayson picks up gum and candy and attempts to swipe them. I put them back and the crying continues.

I look down at my crying Riser and see that he now has boogers dripping off of his chin. I look at Kayson with his face covered with boogers and his clothes covered in eggs and shampoo. I think to myself, I have become that mother who takes her boogery filthy children out shopping at Walmart. All these years I thought they had come into the store looking that way. I couldn't have been more wrong.

After what seemed like hours, we were checked out and ready to go home. I loaded the children in the car. Took out the cookies i had meant to leave out for the YM. And ate my way home. i felt that I had earned them.

The boys are now where they need to be. In their beds taking naps. Now that I have vented, I feel much better, and now plan to take a little nap of my own.

Mostly just Pictures... lots of pictures

So, i've found that having 3 kids is REALLY time consuming. Especially when they are all under the age of 4. I plan to use this as an excuse as to why I haven't been blogging lately. That and we've been busy, and when we're not busy, we've been sleeping, so the blog has really suffered. As I know that most of you have really missed hearing about our adventures, I will catch you up. We'll start where we left off, Chase's arrival and adventures at the NICU...

Chase gets to come home after a long week at the NICU!! I was so happy that I cried. Multiple times. I tell ya, those moms that have preemies are amazing women. That was the longest week of my life. I can't imagine doing that week after week.

The next morning he met his big brothers... It was love at first sight for everyone. He's been surviving all the love he receives from them nicely.

We took Chase on his 1st hike a couple weeks later. He loved it. Look at that water in the background... it was CRAZY. I had to keep telling the boys to stay FAR away from it. It made me so nervous!
Chase smiles! Around 2 weeks Chase started giving us some little grins, but it took a couple more weeks for us to be able to catch one on camera. He is such a happy little guy. Even when he wakes up to eat at night, he greats me with a big grin.

We went to the 4th of July parade again this year. Kayson LOVED it. He kept running up and down in front of our family waving his flag with a huge grin on his face and yelling HI!!! to everyone in the parade. So funny!

Riser had a great time gathering up all the tasty candy and filling up the loot bags Aunt Rachael made for the kids. Chase came too, but it was cold that he spent the morning snuggled up under a blanket with Grandma Kelly.

My cute Red White and Blue boys.

We spent that evening playing in the sprinklers...

And digging in the dirt.
Chase continues packing on the pounds and inches... look at that chin and those cheeks... love it.

Have I mentioned how happy this boy is? This is what he's like nearly all the time! Love this little face!

We took a trip to the Olympic Park over our last cabin weekend... Have you been? You should go. Pretty fun place.

My future Olympian... We're hoping that he's able to part ways with the ol' binky before his Olympic games debut.

Another Olympian... I love his tough skier guy face... Funny boy.

The best part of the day was watching the ski jumpers... The Australian National team was there practicing, and it was pretty neat. The boys were amazed I think we watched for over an hour.

Kayson turned 2!! Crazy!! If you ask him how old he is he'll say "I'm 3!!!" then if you say nooooo, he says, "I'm 2". Always ready to be "big".

His Grandma's know him well, and both got him some sporting equipment. 2 t ball sets... identical. Great minds think alike!! He took one back, and scored a pretty great dump truck.

he also got a "hoooooop!" He spends a good part of every day out perfecting his fade away jump shot.

Happy Birthday my sweet boy!!! I love you more than I can tell you!!

We went to see the floats with Aunt Rachael and the cousins... We loved the floats, this was Riser's favorite... Can't think why... We stood in line for 1/2 hour at least for some fabulous balloon swords that Kayson and cousin Joshua promptly used as teethers and popped, seriously i don't think they lasted 5 minutes. Chase made friends with the Senior Citizens visiting from an assisted living center while I was out in the lobby feeding him. He had several offer to take him home with them, and got plenty of snuggles.

We visited Our good friend Chuck E. Cheese with our cousins on Mom's side. We rode some wild rides (Riser takes his rides very seriously as you can see) and earned plenty of tickets while playing the games. With our bounty of tickets, we purchased 2 plastic snakes, a sucker for Kayson and a large tootsie roll for Riser.

Anna apparently has some incredible gaming skills. most of those tickets came from one try at one game. She was so thrilled with her earnings.

More digging in the backyard. Riser and Kayson have a tremendous trench going on back there. They work on it every day. I believe now they can both sit in it and continue their digging efforts. I love Riser's face in this picture. Crazy boy.

While the boys dig away outside, Chase is mastering the art of holding up his melon. It's hard work! We're very proud.

We took a trip to the Gateway fountain with Aunts Milly, Gabby, and Rachael, Grandma Kelly, and the cousins. We love that place.

The kiddos enjoy a little picnic while they take a break from playing in the water. We're so lucky to have so many fun cousins so close. We always have someone to go on adventures with us!

Kayson looking a little like the Joker.

And finally, Chase went to visit Dr Eyre today. She confirmed what we suspected... Chase is a big boy. At 2 months, He is 25 inches tall, and weighs in at just over 14 pounds. We love this big happy boy!

An update

Just thought I'd share some info on Chase's recovery...

We are now completely off oxygen and the food dehydrator/humidifier

We are completely off the fluids in his IV. This is a big one, because the fluids were really hard on his little veins and was forever getting new lines as old ones would fail. Now he just has the line for his meds!! YAY!!!

No more glucose testing!! Another big one, because they had to poke his heels all the time and they were just hammered. Not to mention the fact that it is not fun to watch your little guy being in pain. Glad to be done with that.

All bacteria screenings have come back negative!

We're now basically just finishing out the 7 days of antibiotics.

He will be set to come home late Sunday!!! HURRAY!!! We're all looking forward to having him here with us!

Thanks for the continued thoughts and prayers! We love you!


*the procedure* as per Michelle's request...

WARNING this will surely be considered TMI for some.

So, as stated before, We went to the hospital after I started bleeding Sunday Morning, I couldn't decide if it was normal, so we just went in. The nurse said that often if labor is progressing quickly (which mine was, I went from no contractions to every 3 minutes in like a half hour) bleeding sometimes occurs. We continued to labor and within 2 hours Chase was here. Then I started really bleeding. I could feel myself "delivering" large clots every time I changed positions or cleared my throat or coughed. They emptied a bag of pitocin, followed by methergin and sytotec (which was especially fun because its pretty much like having 4 suppositories all at once) (all medications are probably spelled wrong... sorry Michelle and Susie... Matt where are you when I need you?) Nothing seemed to work. They just kept pushing on my stomach trying to get everything out, I now have big bruises all over my stomach. Then they came in with the big guns. The nurse told me that they were concerned that there was still a piece of placenta still attached, and that they were going to try to get it to check and get it out if there was. they were giving me fentanyl and the doctor would then use her hand to pretty much fish it out the fentanyl was to take the edge off the pain (I deliver naturally, so I needed something). They shot me up, and almost immediately the room started spinning. As you might guess, when the room is spinning, you feel nauseated, and disoriented. Then the procedure began. Like I said I've delivered all 3 boys without and epidural, and those were nothing compared to this. I don't know if it was intensified by the fact that the room was spinning, and that I felt nauseous, but I thought it would never end. All I could do is hold on to the bed and just try not to scream. It was horrible. To make matters worse Karl was in the NICU with Chase so I was all alone. When he got back, all I could say was, I've just had the worst experience of my life... and it pretty much was. Anyway, ummm sorry for if it was too much for some!! I warned you!!

Chase Hunter Lundeberg

Born: May 30th
Time: 11:31 am
Weight: 8 lbs 10 oz
Length: 21 inches

Long and short of it all...

Rough start for Mom and Chase, a partial placental abruption lead to hemorrhaging for mom and aspirating at birth for Chase. (we like to try to up the drama with each new baby... *sigh*) After a long list of medications (some not given orally), and a nasty procedure involving a drug called fentanyl (if you want the horror story just ask... otherwise, I'll spare you) no clue how to actually spell that... Mom is doing MUCH better and is home... After numerous tests and a couple chest Xrays, it is determined Chase has pneumonia and is in the NICU. He is a fighter, and even convinced the staff that he DID NOT need a spinal tap... They tried twice, eventually Chase won. All signs point to a full recovery, and he is doing better each day. He is even to the point that he can eat on his own!!! Yay baby boy!!! Here are some pics of our handsome boy!!!
Just after being born... trying to fiugre out the whole breathing thing.

Wrapped up nice and warm...
On his way to the NICU with his combination oxygen mask/pacifier holder
In the "ronco food dehydrator"... as his dad would say... actually a humidifier.

We'll keep you updated on his situation! Thanks for all the love and prayers! We love you all!!

2 more months!!!!

All i'm sayin, is that it's getting close!!! Yay!!! Still no real idea of what this boy's name is... Ideas? Anyone?... anyone?...

What we've been up to....

Just in case you've been wondering, here's what we've been up to...

After completing a long list of updates, we FINALLY moved into our "new" house at the end of January. We've been loving all the extra space and just having a place that's ours again.

The boys are really the most interesting, so I'll give you an update on each of them...

Riser:

Rise got a new big boy bed when we moved into the house. He got to pick out some really cool sports blankets and sheets to go on it, and I think he is loving that his head and feet don't touch the top and bottom of this bed (the way they did on the toddler bed!).
He has picked up a love of football from his cousins. We think it's more a love of the excitement then the actual game, because his favorite part is the haka (cousins are BYU fans...) He even had a few weeks when he was certain that the New Zealand All Blacks rugby team was better because they had tougher looking "haka guys". Here's his favorite clip... I have to agree Riser, some of those guys look pretty tough. his favorite is the "long haired guy". Pretty tough. Other noteworthy parts of the game (according to Riser) are: the timeouts, where the players go when they don't listen to their coach; the injuries, where the guys have to help you off the field; the uniforms, he will ONLY wear clothes that are football themed. (I've been trying to prepare him for the fact that football is mostly fall and winter and that we won't be able to wear football clothes in the summer... he seems unconvinced); and of course the tackles. So I guess he officially knows about as much as I do about the sport.
Riser also started Sunbeams in our new ward. He loves it. He has a little friend named Kaitlyn that saves him a seat every week. She calls him Rise. It's adorable.

Kayson:

Kayson's big news is that the man has started talking!!!!! Hurray for communication! We couldn't be more pleased. For now it is a mixture of signs (some actual signs, some Kayson made, like drink... he makes a swallowing sound with a very serious look on his face.) and words. Some favorites are ball, football, basketball, (he knows the difference), momma, Myyyyyya, dadda, meatball, cookie, cheek (he and Riser have a game where Riser says when I say rail, you say cheek. Riser: rail Kayson: Cheek!!! insane laughter follows), eat and more. He seems to be saying more each day. Karl and I have a sneaky suspision that he knows A LOT more, but as with everything that Kayson does, he will use them on his terms and his terms only.

He is a master at using a spoon and fork. I guess all the months spent insisting that he needed no help eating has paid off for him. I am amazed at his control. Along with this, he officially out eats Riser at most meals these days. Perhaps Riser's crazy growth is slowing down, and now Kayson will be the one to grow at a crazy rate, but Kayson regularly packs away plate after plate at meal times. Makes me think that Karl and I are in for some crazy grocery bills as they get older! Uncle Chris, he's definately a man after your heart... some of his favorite foods are cold cereal and ice cream.

He is in love with basketball. Our new house has a a couple basketball hoops in the circle that all the neighborhood boys play on. Kayson will stand at the windows forever and just watch them play, whiel saying over and over again basketbaaaaaall.... basketbaaaaalll...... basketbaaaaalllll.... For weeks, he would "practice" shooting a ball throughout the house. We were pretty impressed with his "skills". We got him a little Nerf hoop, and he is now unstoppable. Plays all day long.

Baby Boy:

Baby boy continues to do well. At our ultrasound, he measured a little small, and they couldn't get a good look at his heart, so we had to go back a few weeks later for another ultrasound. It made me completely nervous for a few weeks, cause hey, I am a good worrier. We went for the second ultrasound, which showed a perfectly healthy little boy, who's due date was just a little off at first. Big Relief for worry wort mommy. :)
Baby Boy still has no name... I have absolutely no clue who this little man is. I kind of want something that sounds good with Riser and Kayson... does that make sense? I feel stumped. Hopefully something comes in the next few months. It might be time to go visit a cemetary or go see a play in Escalante so that I can get a little inspiration. :)
This pregnancy has taught me that i can't do everything. After spending a few weeks getting everything put away in our new house, Kayson got really sick and just wanted to be held and hauled around for days. I started getting a pain in my lower abs, that I ignored and kept doing everything. On President's Day, I did 6 loads of wash, cleaned the house with Karl and then helped him rake up leaves in the backyard. by 9 that night I was in tears and unable to move without huge pain in my lower abs. Luckly I had a check up the next day, as I explained my symptoms, my doctor told me I had tendonitis. Probably aggrivated by thinking i could do everything. I've found that if I give into the fact that I am 7 months pregnant, and not try to be wonder woman, I feel A LOT better.
Even with all that craziness, it's been fun to feel him grow bigger and feel him move around more and more. It's something that is amazing with every pregnancy. I am starting to get really excited to see who this little guy is.

Well, now I believe you are all caught up with us! What's new with you?

So long Baby Kayson, Hello Big Boy Kayson!

Today we said goodbye to Kayson's baby boy locks and got a a big boy haircut. When he was a baby, he had little curls that were just precious. Each time we trimmed his hair, they faded just a bit til they were gone. I held out as long as I could, but he had gotten to the point that he just looked like a ragamuffin all the time, and I knew it was time for a "big boy" cut. I have to admit that I got a little choked up as I watched all those long locks hit the floor, but he does look super cute with his new do!

From this:
To this:
Riser didn't want to be left out, so here's his do... not quite as dramatic, but still very handsome:

December! (A word of warning... This one is LONG!)

I'm getting closer to being caught up! This post seems almost relevant!

*We find a house!! We spend months looking from Layton all the to Draper, and where do we find it? Right in our parents' stake. If we end up staying there, Riser will go to all the same schools that Karl and I did. From elementary to high school. Pretty funny huh? I'll post pics as soon as we finish the remodels.

*We "helped" Grandma Marlene and Grandpa Larry decorate their tree...
Riser had a location on the tree that he felt needed LOTS of bulbs... Kayson just loved running back and forth with the "BALL!!"
They'll really miss our "help" next year. :)

*We took a trip to Gardner Village with Aunt Rachael, Kennedy, Matthew, and Joshua. You're right Rach... we definately had more fun, but come on, how many trips to McDonald's and Burger King have we made? They owed us! :)
Matthew was completely unimpressed with all the photo ops we found. Rach and I, on the other hand, were impressed. We took lots. If you want to see them all let me know, I'll email them to ya... Anybody else just love that store? I could spend a small fortune there.
We found that Aunt Milly has a store that she hadn't told us about.
More elves, Matthew feeling a little bit better about being followed around by the mama paparazzi.

*We get a brand new niece!! Congrats to Kent and Justi on sweet little Baby Rees. You guys are already wonderful parents, and Rees is simply gorgeous! (I neglected to bring my camera when we met her, so you'll have to take my word on it!)

*We take a family trip to see the lights down town... Such a great night.
Dad and Riser (who absolutely loved Trax)
Mom and Kayson (Who wanted off Trax the minute we sat down...)
Dad and his boys.
Mom and the boys.
What Kayson spent the majority of the evening doing... Yep... He's eating that snow! Yum!
Our Family!


*Christmas Eve Breakfast at Grandpa Kraig's shop!
We ate a fabulous breakfast. and then the kids went crazy!
I promise, he was having a good time.
Climbing the carpet stacks!
Getting down!
Uncle Kevin's Fan Club!

*We had Christmas Eve Dinner with Karl's family at a Mexican Restaurant... The place was EMPTY a big change from the Italian place we usually go... But the food was yummy, and it was nice to know that we weren't bugging in other diners as our 5 hooligans romped about. Then we went over to Grandpa Kraigs and Grandma Kelly's for a nativity production and presents... the Camera was MIA for the entire event.

Riser also graced us with a completely impressive not to be forgotten Christmas Eve fit. I think he might be up for some sort of award it was so impressive. Poor Man... I think the excitement had gotten to him.

*Christmas Morning. Fabulous Time! The camera was still MIA, but I think my mom and dad got some... I'll have to chheck with them. Each gift Riser opened, he'd shout "WOW!!! This is JUST what I wanted!!" (Mrs Santa even came through with some additional "football shirts and pants" as much a present for mom as for riser... less fights about what he'll wear) Kayson got a ball pit that he pretty well refused to some out of for the entire morning. All in all... Good work Santa! It was a great morning. oh! Almost forgot about my "gift" So, with the new house and all, Karl and I agreed no presents for each other. but as the boys opened a gift, Karl left the room for a minute. He came back and handed me a black box. (Anyone who knows me knows, I'm not a really big jewelry fan... if you are, that's great, I'm just not. I don't "get" spending lots on it, and the jewelry ads on TV bring many a sarcastic statement from me.) I just kind of look at it for a minute and then open it to find "diamond" earrings... I kind of stare at them for a minute thinking... "wow He really doesn't know me like I thought he did" Not wanting t be a jerk I look at him and say "thanks these are... pretty" (they weren't) At this point he starts cracking up and says "no they aren't! They were a dollar fifty at Walmart!" Good Work Karl! You got me! At least they weren't real!

*Christmas Night: Party with my siblings! After a super delicious dinner, we opened a few presents and spent the evening playing and chatting.
Riser and Anna playing tools.
The babies playing with their blenders. How fun to have 3 all the same age!
One with a light, One with a rope and One with a stick. After reading "the Spooky Old Tree" With Grandpa Larry Way back in like late November early December, Tanner and Riser got it in their heads that they should get these things for Christmas. Every time we'd ask Riser what he wanted for Christmas, he'd say "a stick, a thomas, and some race cars." Tanner would do the same thing, only he wanted a rope. So Santa pulled through, and left a light a rope and a stick at Grandpa and Grandma's house.

Not wanting to leave this side of the family out, Riser graced us all with a repeat performance of the prior night's fit. Thankfully, his bed was at this home. And we were able to help him find his way there. Christmas is a stressful time in the life of a 3 year old. WAY too much excitement.

*Christmas Party at the Cabin!! We went up to the cabin the next day for a little party. The boys did some sledding,
And even had a snowball fight with Uncle Chris and Aunt Susie


Hoping to avoid another fall apart, we opted to head home following dinner. It proved to be a good choice.
The boys fell asleep after being in the car for just a few minutes, and end up sleeping from about 6:45 that night til 7 the next morning. Exhaustion had apparently set in.

*Sleep over at Chris and Susie's

My brave brother and sister-in-law took all four of the older cousins for a sleep over while Anna was in town. It was a HUGE success. These 2 really know how to throw a party. Highlights for Riser included, Watching Aladdin in the big tub with the bubbles. Eating the yummy strawberry ice cream with REAL strawberries. Playing Operation, Eating Waffles and drinking 2 cups of Hot Chocolate. Thanks Chris and Susie! Riser is still talking about how much fun he had!

Craft Day with Gabby:
We got together with Grandma Kelly, Aunt Rachael, Aunt Milly and our soon to be "Aunt" Gabby. We made a fun Valentine's Craft and played with the cousins. Oh p.s. Kevin, FABULOUS choice! The only problem is, you'll be fighting off your nephews who are completely smitten. Welcome to the fam Gabby!
New Year's Eve:

Rachael and I Pretty well invited ourselves over to Kraig and Kelly's to have a New Year's Party... we have really patient in-laws. Anyway, we didn't quit make it to the New Year (Kayson had had it, and wanted to be in his own bed), but we had a great time playing games and eating and chatting.
Kev and Gabby
Karl's Story hour.
The kids passed out after watching Mulan 2 times in a row.

Well, that wraps up 2009! Thanks for hanging in there for all the catchup!