Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Name That...Baby



Well, as we get closer to the delivery of our little girl, we find that we are not any closer to completely deciding on her name than we were several months ago - we've been at the same stand still since then.  It seems like we have a harder time deciding with our little girls.  Cash was named almost as soon as we found out we were having a boy, where Vanna Marie wasn't named until she was two days old.  Is that the fate of our new little girl too?  We think we have it narrowed down to three names and the whole family is pretty set on our first pick (as you'll see below) but we haven't committed completely to it yet so things are still a bit up in the air.  Here's what we've come up with:

1st pick:  Rosalie Kae or K. Bazil - We all really like Rosalie.  I remember a little girl, Rosie, from my home town and I always thought she was so adorable, with a matching adorable name. Ty liked it right off and it fits his criteria which is that he doesn't want to give any of our children unisex names (such as Taylor or Payton, etc.) simply for the reason that he feels so bad when he refers to such a name as a girl and it turns out it's a boy (he runs into this a lot at work as he's talking to parents about medications for their kids and without seeing them, he hates having to guess if the name refers to a boy or girl).  So our girls will be blessed with very feminine names that can't be mistaken for boy's names I guess, and Rosalie fits that description.  

I've always wanted to name a little girl after my mother in some way who I love and respect as much as humanly possible.  Her name is Karen and so Kae or K. will likely be our baby's middle name/initial.

This name is everyone's favorite and the kids have already kind of taken the name on as if it's set in stone.  I just have to add that it's so darling to hear Vanna call the baby "baby wosie" (she's not real great with her "r's" yet).   Our only hold up is if the baby is born with red hair, which could happen easily with the red hair in Ty's side of the family. Ty's not too sure about the whole combination of red hair - red rose name idea.  But you never really know what hair color a baby will really have.  Lots of times, their hair falls out and comes in a different color, or it lightens or darkens.  I guess we'll see.

2nd pick:  Lia Kae Bazil - Ty and I really like this name too because it encompasses both our mothers in the name.  Ty's mom's name is Orillia and since I've always liked the name Leah, I thought, "Hey Ty, what if we used the name Leah but spelled it differently to take in the end of your mom's name?!"  And then, of course, Kae is after my mom (as I described above).  It would be kind of neat for her to be named after both her beloved grandmas I think.  And we both think Lia would fit a little red-haired girl perfectly :).

3rd pick: Heather Kae or K. Bazil - Again, Heather is a very pretty and feminine name.  It actually has a connection to my name as well which is a small part of the reason we're considering it (Heather means Erica in Latin - not that we speak Latin or anything :)  And I like that although it's somewhat a common name among my generation, you don't really hear it much among our younger generation and I guess I like that it would be a bit uncommon.

So what's your vote?  Not saying it will hold any weight in the long run (and who knows, maybe we'll decide on name that 's not even listed above) but I'm curious as to what my friends like.  Or if you have any other great suggestions, I'm all ears. :)


Just a little update below on things for my own records (you're welcome to read, but I'm warning you - it's long!)

Our baby girl is very active  and seems very strong (reminds me a lot of my pregnancy with Cash).  I often just watch my stomach to see it just rolling and changing shapes as the baby moves around to change position/get comfortable.  I first felt her hiccups (or "pickups" - as Vanna would say) when I was at 29 weeks and nearly feel them once evey day now.  I love to sit/lay still the entire time she has them and feel their rythmic movements. I find them so fascinating  - pregnancy in it's entirety is so fascinating.  It's amazing all the changes a woman's body makes to accomadate a little one, and likewise, amazing the changes in development that take place as a little one grows.  What a blessing to experience such a thing - such a miracle, again.   

We're anxious to meet our baby girl and learn more of her personality.  And apparently she is very anxious to meet us too the little stinker (perhaps she's inherited a bit of impatience from her mama - we're hoping she can be just patient enough to last a couple more weeks though at least :)

Speaking of our little girl's impatience, here's an update on what's happened in the pregnancy over the past few weeks. 

My last update talked about when we first found out I was low on amniotic fluid (possibly as a result of being on Sulindac - a medication to help prevent contractions) so I was taken off that medication and put on Nifedipine which also helps prevent contractions - just not quite as effectively - but doesn't have the possible side effect of lowering amniotic fluid) ...so to start where I picked off...two weeks later, 32 weeks along, we went in for an ultrasound that showed my fluid levels had gone back up a bit (it was at 6.6 and went up to 10.8, again, normal is from 10-20) as a result of being taken off the Sulidac.  Yay!!!  BUT it did show that my cervix was still continuing to thin.  At that point, it now measured at .99cm (again, regular at this point should be 3cm). 

That same week, my dear sister brought our kids home for a quick hello over the weekend!  Oh, it was sooooooooooooo good to see them!  We had a great time.  I just loved their company and they loved playing with Dad.  Ty said afterwards how funny it is that you forget how much they wear you out.   I think it really eased the kids' minds too, to realize that they will be home soon for good and that everything is still here and just waiting for them (their toys, their beds, etc.).  They even left good too.  I was a little worried that after coming home for a couple days, they wouldn't be willing to leave again to be with Grandmas and Grandpas for another couple weeks but they did really good when it came time to say good-bye.  Such good kids!

I don't know if it was from having the kids home (which to me, was highly unlikely as I really didn't do anything more than usual) or what, but nearly as soon as the kids arrived, I began having contractions that were more noticeable than usual.  They continued all through that Friday and early Saturday morning (about 4am) I woke up and couldn't go back to sleep as they became for painful and more frequent.  So...a couple hours later, we headed into the hospital.  They had to give me a couple shots to stop the contractions and boy do those things sting - ouch!.  But they did the trick and my contractions stopped, thank goodness.  My doctor wondered if the Nifedipine wasn't strong enough to help me with my contractions so he again put me on the Sulindac and asked that I come back into the office on Monday for another ultrasound.  This ultrasound was supposed to just be to measure my fluid levels again to see where we were starting from at the time of starting the Sulindac - then we'd have another one in a week to see if the medication had had the same effect on me as before and was lowering my levels or not. 

I went in for my ultrasound on Monday (33 weeks along in my pregnancy) and we found that after only taking the Sulidac for two days, my fluid levels had dropped way down to the start of being critical.  My fluid level was down to 4.09.  I was so disappointed because I felt so much better when I was on the Sulidac and it seemed to work for me so much better than the Nifedipine at preventing contractions, but when I'm on it, my levels dropped.  After discussing things with my doctor, we decided I would take the Nifedipine throughout the day and take just one Sulidac in the evening (when my contractions usually picked up) and see if after a week, things had improved or not.

One week later (34 weeks now), the ultrasound showed that my fluid levels had risen back up to 6.6 which we were comfortable with AND my cervix length had not changed.  What good news this time!  So we are just going to keep doing what we're doing and check things out again in another week.  At that point I'll be at 35 weeks which is a huge milestone for me.  Even by hitting 34 weeks, I've found some of the weight of worry starting to dissipate and be replaced with excitment.  We are making it pretty far really and with every week, even every day, our little girl has such a greater chance at being healthy when she's born.  My goal is to get to 37 weeks, at which point my doctor said he'd take me off bed-rest.  Yay!  AND I'm almost to the end of my weekly hydroxyprogesterone shots (that help to strengthen my cervix) - after about 35 weeks they usually stop giving them, so I have just one more left.  Yay again!

I've now been on bed-rest for just over 5 weeks - ahhh!  Just a couple more weeks to go and if we make it that far, they'll take me off medications and bed-rest and I'm assuming we'll have her right away.  Who knows though - she might trick me and after all this trouble, change her mind and decide to wait it out for the whole 40 weeks.  Hahaha!  Seriously, what a ride it's been!

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Cash's Latest

We are just so blessed to have this happy little guy in our family. Cash is now five and a half and is just growing up too fast. Although he's growing taller and stronger all the time, he is still the same little boy he's always been - with a love/passion for life and fun. He loves to play, play, play. We call him the energizer bunny sometimes, because he definitely has the happy energy to allow him to keep up that tough schedule of play, play, play too. We find it comical that one of the first things he asks his dad on his days off work is, "So...what do you want to play with me today dad?" His happiness and energy is contagious, he always has a big bright smile and bright attitude. We are so changed and often bored without his excitement and entertainment each day. We miss him so much and can't wait to have both the kids back home!


There's that big, happy smile we adore!

Speaking of growing, I have to add that Cash is such a good eater. He eats such a good variety and even asks me to make him things like stew. What kid asks for stew? And the reason...because it has carrots. He loves carrots and lately he tells us his favorite vegetable is broccoli (mac & cheese is his all time favorite meal though). We keep telling him all these healthy foods will make him big and strong like his dad (who he just idolizes) and he just can't get enough. He loves to go work out in the garage with Ty too and likes to show off that he can do pull-ups now, along with his sit-ups and push-ups.




I love these pictures because they show so much of Cash's personality. He is so silly and thinks he's so cool. He definitely has us laughing all the time. And they show his double-jointed fingers that we can't enough of.

Cash is cracking us up lately with all his new facial expressions. He has discovered a new found talent of raising his eyebrows and uses his talent as often as possible to add a bit of quirkiness to whatever he's saying. He also loves to crack us up by trying to tell us jokes. These usually don't make any sense - but it's just funny the effort he continues to put into them. For example: Cash - "Knock knock." Mom - "Who's there?" Cash - "A snake on your head". Ty told him a joke the other day that we now hear about ten times a day - Cash loves it. It goes: "What would you do if you got swallowed by an elephant?.....Run around until you get pooped out." Oh, how that makes Cash laugh.

Cash loves to go fishing. I'm sure he'll always be his dad's fishing buddy because they both just love being out doors, getting fresh air, relaxing, and hoping they'll hook a big one.


Cash is always happy to tease and trick us. Lately he's been playing a lot of jokes on us followed with an "I was just tricking you Dad." I'll have to read him the story of "the boy who cried wolf again" and see if it leaves any kind of impression :).

Cash loves to play in the water. He'd take three baths a day if he could and especially loved playing on the trampoline this summer with the sprinklers running under it.




I know you've seen this picture before, but is one of my all-time favorites of Cash. Again, just another example of the way he keeps us laughing.

Cash is still pretty competitive. He loves playing any kind of sport and loves to win. He has a hard time understanding that it's okay when we don't always win, not everyone is perfect all the time right? Wrong - according to Cash. We're working on that one.


Cash tells us he wants to be a missionary, a policeman, a fireman and lately, a sea lion feeder. I find it encouraging to see the way Cash truly wants to be good (unless we're talking about teasing his sister- ahhh). He genuinely feels bad when he makes mistakes and he suprises me with the things he is grasping in regard to the church and the things we're trying to teach him. I'm pretty proud of the fact that he always tells everyone that he wants to be a missionary when he grows up.  I hope he sticks to his young guns and remains worthy to be just that. 

I have to record an experience where Cash truly shined and was such an example to me: Our Stake was challenged to be better missionaries and we were asked to make a special effort to invite a friend to church on a particular Sunday. Then all of our meetings on that Sunday were especially designed to teach and encourage those that might be visiting us. So prior to that Sunday, in Primary, we really beefed up our effort to encourage our kids to make these invitations - who better to invite their friends to Church than such pure and sweet kids who seem fearless to do such things right? Well, that was exactly what Cash was. He came home from Church that day, we had lunch, and he took a nap. Just after he woke up from his nap, we went outside to play a bit and while I was sitting there watching the kids, he started walking over to our neighbor's house. I shouted out to him to come back and when he got closer, I asked him what he was doing. He responded by telling me he wanted to invite Kathy, our neighbor, to Church (and he even had our little paper invitation, that had been passed out in Primary that day, in his hand to give her). I thought he would have forgotten all about it but the message really sank in for him. So we went to our neighbor's and invited her to Church. But seriously, I thought - what a little missionary. Children truly can teach us so many things and I know I was taught by Cash's example that day.  I was so proud of him.

Cash loves to go to Primary. As soon as Sacrament Meeting is over, he books it to his Primary class all by himself (and has since he first became a Sunbeam). He's usuallly very careful to remember to take his "scriptmures" to class and on the rare occasion that he forgets them, he will go to the Library by himself and ask for a copy to take to class. Since I'm in Primary, I get to witness his desire to participate and answer questions. He always has his hand up and is so proud of himself when he gets an answer correct. I love to see him learning and wanting/loving to learn about our Savior and His Church.


In addition to being a missionary, Cash tells us he wants to be a policeman and a firefighter. Yikes - some dangerous jobs - those will keep his mother worrying. And of course lately, (in relation to our Oregon Coast trip I think) he tells us he wants to be a sea lion feeder. And he doesn't just want to be one of these things, but all of them - at the same time :).  He's such a hoot.


Cash loves to tell us bed-time stories. Cash has always pretty much stayed up until we go to bed (he thinks he's going to miss out on something if we try to put him to bed earlier and never ends us going to sleep until we do anyway...so...to compensate, he still usually takes naps) and it has kind of become tradition for us to tell eachother bed-time stories. Ty takes a shower right before bed and so while he's in the bathroom, Cash will climb into bed with me and we'll take turns telling eachother stories. He even occasionally gets to hear some from daddy when he's done in the shower (who always has such creative and scary stories that Cash loves) before we make him go get into his bed. Cash has some pretty creative ones himself too that he tells us.   It's a lot of fun.

Cash loves to feel the baby kicking and will just randomly put his hands on my tummy to see if she'll kick him.

Cash is completely facsinated with money right now. He loves getting his quarter each day for doing all of his chores and is always telling us what he's going to buy with his money. His new favorite store is Kings (which has a pretty good selection of cheap toys and some quater machines that the kids love) and he always talks about going there with his money. We even regularly hear him in his bedroom at night, after we've gone to bed, clanking his coins around and counting them by flashlight.


Cash's first day of Pre-School, 2011. He just had to wear his sun glasses. He looks like such a stud-muffin. We often call him that and sometimes, when I'm finished with his hair in the morning, he'll ask, "Do I look like a stud-muffin?"

Hilarious story that I just have to record:

This summer we attended one of Ty's co-worker's weddings. It was followed by a BBQ-type reception and we enjoyed our meal with many of Ty's other co-workers - most of whom drink alcohol. We had just sat down with our food and Cash said he wanted apple juice to drink. We told him there wasn't any apple juice but that daddy would get him a pop in just a second. Cash was very disappointed and kept begging for apple juice. We couldn't figure out why he was making such a big deal out of it. While we got all settled with our food, Cash wandered back over to the food tables (where we figured he'd look for apple juice, find there wasn't any and return to our table). In that same instant, I happened to realize that our friends' plastic cups were filled with beer, but to a child it would perhaps appear that they were filled with apple juice. Upon realizing that this is probably why Cash was so adament about having apple juice and not believing us that there really wasn't any (when he could "plainly" see our friends with "apple juice"), I quickly explained this to Ty and told him he'd better go grab Cash. As we turned to look at the food tables, we could see Cash just starting to return to us with "apple juice" in hand - looking rather pleased with himself. Oh, how Ty's co-workers laughed and laughed as they saw Ty take the beer out of Cash's hand and lead him back to the tables to pick out a pop instead - they teased Ty and asked him how in the world he explained that one to his son. Cash was so upset which sadly only added to the hilarity of the situation. We had a good little follow-up talk about that one on the way home. :)


Some of the funny things Cash has said recently:

"Whatever!" and "Yeah right Mom." - I keep thinking he shouldn't be talking like this still for a few more years :)

The other night we went to Arctic Circle for ice cream and Cash asked why there were so many cars driving around. Before we could answer the question, he said, "I think some are just drivin' and some are out making girlfriends." We just laughed, thinking where does he come up with this stuff?

That same night while we're sitting there eating ice cream, I suddenly smelled a terrible stench and asked Cash if he farted. He just looked at me and admitted with a mischievious sneer, "Yep...twice." What a boy!

No matter how hard we try to correct him, Boise's football team, to Cash, is the Boise "Steak" Broncos.

One day, as we were driving in the car, Cash brought up the topic of what happens to us when we die. He said, "I don't want to turn into a skeleton." I thought it was so sweet the way his little mind works and tries to figure things out. I tried to put his mind at ease with the happier parts of what we know will happen to us after we die.

Later that week, Cash had caught yet another grasshopper in a jar, and we were trying to explain to him that he would want to release it later that day so that it didn't die (like the last couple he'd captured). He asked me, "Will my grasshopper be resurrected?" Another teaching moment presented.

Out of the blue one day, when I asked Cash to do something for me, he replied by putting his hands together in front him, bowing, and saying, "Yes, your magesty." I laughed so hard that of course he does it more often just because he knows I get a kick out of it. Vanna has caught on too and I often have both my kids responding to my requests with, "Yes, your magesty." Don't I have them trained well? :)

Cash likes to give us ultimatums (perhaps I do that too often myself and that's where he gets it from). He'll say "This is your two chances." But what he means is, "This is your two choices or options." and then he'll proceed to tell us what they are like he's in charge. So funny.

In Cash's prayers lately, he usually always includes the following phrase, "Thank you for this opportunity." He never states what that opportunity is, but its funny how grown up it sounds coming from him. It also reminds us that perhaps we're a little too repetitve in our own prayers when we say things like, "We are grateful for the opportunity...."

Wow - this kid keeps us hopping, smiling, laughing and completely worn out but oh we just love him so much. We are grateful for such a good boy and for the spirit he brings into our home. We can't wait to have him fill it up again with his energy. Love you buddy!!!