Owen is Home

Since hospitals right now are not allowing anyone 14 and under into the hospital, Alexis and Carter have been waiting anxiously to see their new baby brother. We brought Owen home today and they finally got to meet him. They were all smiles and could not get enough kisses and hugs in. My Mom told me that she had printed a picture of Owen for them to see last night and Carter had been carrying it around all day with him telling everyone that his new brother Owen came out of his Mommy's belly!



This is the outfit that Amber made for Owen to come home in.

Owen Douglas Pitt is Here!

We are super excited to share with you some pictures of the latest addition to our family.

Owen Douglas Pitt
Born on October 28, 2009 at 8:17 a.m.
6 lbs. and 12 oz.
20 inches long

He has brought smiles to our faces from the minute he was born and we adore him.

By the way, this is Amber's husband (Chad) posting this. I'm sure Amber will probably re-post this and make this information much more exciting than I have, but in the meantime we wanted to share some of the early pics of Owen. Enjoy!

Going in...

to be induced in 1 hour!

One good thing about going past your due date and being induced...you are prepared. Not necessarily for the sleepless nights and nursing. (I am NOT a fan of nursing but I do it anyway.) But my HOUSE is ready. It's clean: the carpets, walls, tile, bathroom, windows. You name it and most likely it's been scrubbed down by me or Chad within the last week. I'm super excited to meet this little guy and wonder if he'll look like my other two cookie cutter children or will he have a completely different look like Chad and his brother? It's so surreal.

One of my most favorite things that we did to get ready for this baby was to hang big picture frames above his crib. Chad has a rule: no glass above the crib. So I found 2 large frames with plexi-glass from Ikea for $3. Sweet. I'm planning on putting large black and white photo's of our baby in them. But for now...I couldn't leave them empty. So I took out my toll paints...mixed them to match the colors of the crib bedding, flipped the Ikea advertisement inside each frame over and let the kids use the white backside as a canvas to welcome our little one. The kids loved it...and I love going in the room and starring at their artwork.

It might be hard to take their artwork down. Alexis drew a cute welcome home picture of her and Carter waiting for the baby. Carter kept switching what his picture was: it transformed from a volcano to a fox and bug.

Next time I post...I will be a mom of three.

Check Lists

A month ago I made a "Projects to Finish" check-list:

I'm happy to say I finished almost everything on my full page list. Hence, all the projects post.

Then when the Primary Program was all said and done and that was over I figured I could use this week to work on my house.

So I made a full page sheet of deep spring cleaning things I could do. I'm pretty much almost done with that. Some of the things I'm doing now I really don't care if I get done. At my appointment on Tuesday I was at a 2 and 50%.

Wednesday night I woke up at 1:20 with major CONTRACTIONS. I made my necessary phone calls (The first to my sister to tell her she would be working for me and another to Chad's mom to prepare to come over.) I remembered this is exactly how I went into labor with Carter: 2 nights before, contractions every few minutes...but only really painful every 10 minutes. I thought...I'll wait it out another good 30 minutes. Besides, I needed to pack a hospital bag.

And would you believe it: the contractions slowly went away when I got up to pack my bag. So that was that. I had little ones all night. So when my alarm went off at 5:45am for work I called my sister and told her I guess she didn't need to work for me after all.

I went to work at 6:30am. My eyes burned like crazy from being up all night. By 9:00 I started having contractions again. Every 10 minutes I had contractions while I cleaned 3 people's teeth.

Then I got in the car to come home...and NOTHING! They went away again. Chad and I took a long stroll on the beach to see if it would help. NOTHING.

So here I sit...with ridiculous false alarms. Chad's getting frustrated. Today, I volunteered in Alexis' classroom and cleaned my house again. Chad cleaned the outside of our windows, cleaned the BBQ and the patio. Now, he's out cleaning our car. I think he's nesting now purely out of frustration.

I only get contractions when I'm still. That is so wrong. So, we sit and wait for this baby who is due TODAY! Doesn't look like it's happening. At least I have an induction date set for next Tuesday night. I could just do without these false alarms.

HYMNS

Today was our Primary Program. So nice to have it over with. The kids did so awesome and totally pulled through memorizing all their parts and they sang so loud.

But the best part of my day came while we were taking the sacrament. We don't let our kids play with anything. We make them sit quietly...or try to make them sit quietly throughout the sacrament. Anyhow, it seems like they use the time to come up with interesting questions, comments, or notes.

Alexis whispers this to me today during the sacrament:

"Mom, what does this say on this book?"

"HYMNS."

"Why does it say HYMNS?"

"Because that is another word for church songs."

"Well...they could call it Her's too!"


Hymns and Hers...sounds perfect to me.

Baby Shower's Galore

Last week Chad's little sister, Kelli, came down from Utah. His Aunt Jana threw her a shower because she's having her first baby this January. We are so excited for her.

I helped Jana by making some decorations.

Jana made the diaper cake and I made the little baby booties with peanut M&M's. Super cute and easy...found the idea HERE. All you do is get a kleenex. Lay it flat on the ground on the diagonal. Place a paper 2oz ketchup cup in the middle. (Found them at Smart n' Final: 200 for $3.) Put a cotton ball in front of the cup. Tuck the Kleenex into the cup and tie a ribbon around the neck of the cup. (I just used the ribbon by the spool at JoAnn's. They were on sale for 50 cents. 2 spools will go around like 50 booties. No tape or glue! Cute, easy and cheap. Just the way I like it.

I made this "It's a boy" banner when I made the Halloween Banner. It's nice to have on hand even for future showers. Now I just need to make a girl one to have on hand.

I love putting baby clothes on clothes-lines at showers. It's another cute but cheap way of decorating. I made Kelli 3 burp clothes made out of cloth diapers. I like my burp clothes thick. I made the tie shirt too. So fun...I'll have to explain that later.

I also added buttons to the clothespins. My friend, Britni, did this for my shower with Alexis and I still use the cute pink buttoned clothespins all the time. Now I have both on hand.
The compassionate service committee for our ward kept asking me if they could throw a shower for me. I felt lame because it's my 3rd kid. So I suggested a girls night out at my friends house and having a combined shower for both Natalie and me. (She's on baby #3 too) Super casual...with dessert, of course. When I told my friend, Amber, about the idea to have it at her house she jumped on board...sent out e-vites, with an optional group gift to help go towards a double jogger, and made my favorite sherbet dessert. It was all done within 4 days: the idea, the e-vite, the girls night out. How awesome is that! I felt so loved.
Here's a picture for all those requesting more prego pictures. Now you know why I don't post them...I'm huge. (Just picture me working...cleaning people's teeth. Funny sight, huh? I'm almost done though. I only have to work next wed and thurs....then I'm due Friday! Woo hoo.)

Baby Bedding

We're getting ready around here. A little over a week to go.

I actually made this crib bumper 3 1/2 years ago for Carter. I had seen a fancy combination like this with different fabrics at Bergstroms and loved it. Of course I wasn't going to spend hundreds of dollars buying one. So I made my own. It was super easy. The most time consuming parts are just measuring your crib out so it fits nicely. If you ever make a bumper for the first time I definitely have learned what works best. I'd be happy to answer any questions if you have them. I've washed this bumper numerous times and it still is holding up great.

With Carter I used a raffia grass table skirt as the crib bed skirt. Only I tied it to the crib with pipe cleaners. You couldn't see them but this time I decided to upgrade. Here's what I did:

I used an old curtain and cut it to the size of the mattress.
I sewed the edges under.
Then, I sewed the raffia table skirt straight on the top. It doesn't cover the back side of your crib but that's against my wall so it didn't matter. This doesn't have to be super straight. Just don't sew over the chunky top part of the skirt...it will break your needle. Lesson learned.

Remove the mattress.
Lay down your bed skirt.
I taped the back side of the skirt to the metal frame to make sure it didn't shift forward.

Tuck the raffia behind the crib slats and pull it all out so it lays on the floor.

Cut a section of the raffia skirt to the proper length. Error on the longer side you can always trim little bits at a time. Then continue by grabbing a cut piece as you go so you can cut the following pieces the same length. (Like when you cut hair.)
And there you have it. A grass bed skirt that you didn't pay $50-$70 for.

As I lowered the crib throughout the babies first year...I just trimmed the raffia again so it always hid what I was storing under the crib.

Pumpkin Patch

Tonight for Family Home Evening we went to the Pumpkin Patch.

The kids have been counting down the days on the calendar.

The kids...
...rode on the flying elephants:

...rode the bumper boats:


...Carter loved driving the train:

...jumped in bounce houses:

...took some fun pictures:


...and ran and climbed over pumpkins.

No pony rides for the kids this year. That's all they could talk about up until they realized it would take over 1/2 their tickets. They were smart enough this year to plan out how they would use their tickets to get on the most rides.

Alexis' Opinion

Alexis, Carter and I were all holding hands walking across the cross walk after school. They were jumping around a little.

Under my breath, I said: "OUCH!"

Alexis: "Sorry Mom." (thinking she pulled my arm when she jumped)

Me: "Alexis, you didn't hurt me. The baby kicked me really hard."

Alexis: "Why did the baby kick you?"

Me: "I don't know."

Alexis: "Maybe, he's thinking 'What is this TRAP? Get me out of here!'"

Needless to say...I couldn't respond I was laughing so hard.

Carter's Quilt

Another project...years in the making. Pathetic. But, finally, FINISHED!

I seriously bought this fabric almost 1 1/2 years ago just before Carter got a big boy bed. (I love that the fabric has all the popular southern California beaches!) A few months later I cut it all out. Every few months I'd work on it for a day or two and then get sick of it. Between cutting the fabric & batting and sewing all the X's on...I grew tired of it real fast.

Chad kept saying, "AMBER, why don't you finish Carter's quilt!" So after cleaning up from crafts this weekend he said it again Monday morning. I didn't want to pull it out but I did. I needed to finish it!

So, I literally spent about 10 hours doing it yesterday. The first 4 hours: measuring & sewing all the squares together and adding a thick border. The last 6 hours: cutting the edges so it would fray when I washed it. I had to cut it close together since most of the fabric is corduroy and I was afraid it wouldn't fray good enough.
You can see how it is reversible below. Clean edges on one side and rough on the other.

I made Alexis' reversible bedding about 4 years ago. I was going for somewhat of a pottery barn look. Sometimes, I just wish I could go out and buy that expensive PB bedding. My sisters think I'm crazy because my bedding is one of a kind.

Finally, both have quilts. Carter would see it un-finished in a drawer in our extra room and say, "Mom...you finish my beach blanket?" He is pretty stoked it's done.

I promise I didn't pose them. They insisted on being in the photo! Almost makes it look a little bit like a Pottery Barn add with them posing and all.

Halloween Banner

During Conference this afternoon, I made some of these banners. I copied it from this girl.

Kids Apron

I saved this pattern on my google reader because it looked super quick and easy. I didn't know if I'd ever use it or not. But last night when I remembered Alexis had a birthday party to attend today and we hadn't bought a gift...I thought I was in trouble. Especially since we would already be getting to the party late because of an early soccer game.

So this pattern came in super handy late last night. It took me a little over an hour...fabric flower and all. I used my scraps of fabric from this adult apron I made. Honestly, this took hardly any fabric and it turned out sooo cute. It was the perfect gift and I am definitely making this our standard gift for little girls. One hour of my time and some scrap fabric sure beats spending money and getting them something I'm not sure they'll like.

2 Emergency Room Visits...

in less than a week. And we aren't talking simple stitches or a broken bone. Much scarier.

First ER Visit:

Saturday:

Alexis was playing in her soccer game all of 5 minutes. She was doing great. She had just scored. Then she got the ball again and crossed it. We all watched where the ball went and then out of the corner of my eye I see Alexis sprinting towards me on the side-line in the middle of game play.

I looked up and she is HYSTERICALLY crying but no sound is coming from her and she is grabbing her lower right back. Chad and I were sitting in our chairs. She ran full speed into my chest. I held her and kept asking her what happened but she was crying so hard (still no sound) I couldn't get her to answer me.

This is NOT normal. Alexis can be kicked, slide tackled and NOTHING fazes her on the field. She's fierce. But something happened and I couldn't figure it out. So Chad and I looked to the ref and the coaches to see if they saw what happened. But because it happened after she crossed it everyone else followed where the ball went.

This is where it gets SCARY.

So as they are telling us they didn't see it either...I hear loud SNORTING coming from Alexis. She buried her face in my shoulder when she ran to me and never came back up. I grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her away from me to see her eyes staring straight ahead. A few more snorts. And then GONE! She was un-conscious and she wasn't breathing. But her eyes were still open staring into space. I took my right hand and grabbed her jaw and screamed, "BREATHE, ALEXIS, BREATHE!"

I laid her on the ground and she started coming too. By this time, everyone hears me scream at her and realizes there is a problem. Our team Mom was a EMT and had some stuff with her. She put an ice pack on her forehead and was asking her all sorts of questions as she was coming to.

Most people stood back and watched us as we knelt around her on the sideline. But the team mom from the OTHER team came over with CUBES of ice. (Never mind we have an ice pack on her forehead already and we are trying to get her to answer questions. Important ones.)

So, this other lady starts RUBBING ice cubes all over Alexis' face. Around her cheeks, neck, ears...etc. Then she did the most OBNOXIOUS thing of all. Pretend you are talking to a 3 month old baby trying to get it to smile. Now take that high pitched baby voice and say this as you are rubbing ICE CUBES straight on a 5 year old's face....

"Oh, honey. You are just dehydrated. Yes, you are. You are such a good girl. Yes, you are. I saw you score your goal. You did so good. Yes, you did. You're Mommy is going to buy you ice cream after this. Yes, she is."

During, this time...I am thinking: Lady, you are CRAZY. Ice cream, really. You are promising her ice cream. Why not Disneyland? Do you really think she needs bribery at a time like this? Come on, it's not like she purposely had a seizure-like passing-out episode. Seriously, she was NUTS! But, I got that hint when I first walked up to the game and EVERY parent on your team...Mom's and Dad's had silk screened shirts with the girls team name and logo "Purple Panthers." Oh, and you are spanned around both side-lines...blocking our view of the game occasionally. ANNOYING!

I looked to see where Carter was and he was kneeling on the other side of Alexis' just staring at her. But, back to Alexis. She is screaming, "It hurts. It hurts."

I wanted to say, "What hurts, Alexis? Your back or the FREAKIN' ICE CUBES this crazy lady is rubbing all over your face."

So, I ask them to start the game and we move her to the shade as she is recovering. Gave her some food. Her hands are shaking like crazy but she seems to be ok.

We drive her to the ER to make sure everything is ok. They diagnose her with having had a vaso-vegal response. Basically, it's super common among kids. They think she might have had a back spasm when she crossed the ball. It caused her so much pain her body focused on that and her heart slowed down in the process to focus on the problems. That caused her snorting and passing out. I have a sister that had seizures all growing up so the staring off into space freaked me out. When she stopped breathing I expected her eyes to roll back and lips turn blue. But that didn't happen. Luckily, it was a freak thing. It could happen again but it may not. If it does they will do neurological testing but for now she is fine. Nothing genetic. No heart problem. And the snorting got explained to me and that is what threw me off the most. It reminded me of when I found my cousin, Jeff, snorting, foaming at the mouth and un-conscious from doing pyramids behind a boat at Lake Powell. His was carbon monoxide poisoning. But still, the snorting is the first thing and it freaked me out. Freaked me out so much I kept slapping his unconscious face telling him to breath. Hey, I'm learning. I didn't slap Alexis. Sorry, Jeff...I was inexperienced.

Crazy thing is 6 months ago when my sister, Mindy, was at the end of her pregnancy she had one of these vaso-vegal responses at work. No one knew that at the time. But she started feeling sick. She went to lay down in an open room. We work for our brother and he was sitting next to her when she had the episode. He thought she was having a seizure, too. Weird. But, apparently, not genetic.

Second ER visit:

Last night, we get a call from Chad's mom who has gone to Big Bear because Chad's Grandma is feeling sick. We talk with her and they are at the hospital because his Grandma never complains and they are monitoring her. Chad's mom is a nurse and wasn't too worried. But they are keeping an eye on her.

I put the kids to bed and Alexis says, "Mom, can we please write a get well card to Big Bear Grandma when we wake up."

I thought, "That's weird. Nothing's really wrong. Other family members and friends have been sicker they've never wanted to write a get well card."

But I just said, "Sure" and dismissed my thoughts of them being overly concerned.

A few hours later, Chad gets a call from his Dad. His Grandma is in intensive care. So, he asks me to start making arrangements for the kids in the morning since he usually has them while I'm at work at 6:30am. I start trying to figure out how I'm going to do this when I leave so early and am talking with friends and family.

Then Chad gets another call while I'm talking with my friend, Natalie, to see if she will help me. He walks in the room and has tears running down his face. The ER doctor doesn't think his Grandma is going to make it through the night. I asked him if he wanted me there. He said, "Yes." So, I make some more phone calls. Get my sister, Jillyn, to work for me. Only, she can't start till 8am because she has 6 kids she has to get out the door for school. So I get permission from my brother to cancel my first two patients. Luckily, our secretary moved 200 yards from our office. I call her. It's 10:30pm by now. She leaves her kids sleeping and walks down to get the patients numbers for me. I called and woke up both my patients but they were so understanding. We carried the kids to Natalie's to spend the night and took off to Big Bear.

By the time we get there...his Grandma is doing significantly better. She has CHF (Cardiac Heart Failure) and after tests all night found out she had a CHF episode and not a heart attack. Which is good news for her recovery and less damage to the heart.

But, it was so scary for Chad's mom. When everything seemed fine earlier in the evening she went back to feet his Grandma's cat after she insisted she go. She was feeding it when she gets a call from Chad's Aunt Marilyn that something went really wrong and his Grandma couldn't breathe. By the time Chad's mom got back to the hospital his Grandma was gurgling for a breath. Her lungs had filled with fluid, her heart rate sky rocketed, and her blood pressure was down to 60/20. She told the doctor he better tell her like it is because she is a nurse. And that's when he said, "We won't know for sure what's happened till morning and that's IF she makes it through the night."

When we got there she was finally sleeping and doing better. It had taken a while for things to get better. After her episode she was super confused thinking Chad's sister lived in San Bernadino and that I had my baby. It was scary and super emotional since we are so close to his Grandma. If she would have been at home when this all took place there is no way she would have made it. Luckily, she was already at the hospital and hooked up to IV's and they were able to pump medication into her to save her life. She is better. Still in the hospital and coming down here to see a specialist once she is stable so they can further evaluate things. We are hoping a virus set this off and it's not her CHF getting worse.

I called to thank everyone that helped us when we got home today. I called, my sister, Jillyn to thank her for working for me and she said, "I think you have a curse on Grandma's." I was confused. She then said, "After, you left we found out in the middle of the night that Curt's Grandma died." (Curt is her husband) I felt so bad but she was so nice about it all knowing how close we are to Chad's Grandma.

We are so grateful to our family and friends for being so kind. Everyone on Alexis' soccer team emailed me after her scare. People were calling us making sure we were ok. Then last night my family and Natalie took on so much at 10:30 at night so I could be with Chad. I hate going through these experiences but we definitely come out of it all with so much greater of an appreciation for life. For family. For friends. For what truly matters. And we are definitely grateful to KNOW families are forever and it doesn't end here.