Gary's 50th

Tim's Uncle Gary turned 50 about a week ago.  Most people would think this was not something to celebrate because they are...getting old.  Gary has Down's Syndrome, so turning 50 is something to be celebrated.  He is one of 8 children, and has done Special Olympics, loves playing the guitar, dancing and singing, football and golf, and his family.  This weekend was amazing, and involved over 30 people.  Some came from as far as Casper, Wyoming...others from southern California and Las Vegas.  I met many people from Tim's mom's side whom I had never met.  All of them are so sweet and had such kind hearts to go out of their way for this celebration.  We had a BBQ and party on Saturday and many of us went on the MS Dixie for a lake cruise on Sunday.  The weather was beautiful, and the memories will last a lifetime.

Gracie and her "cousin" Ayden

Tim's Aunts Loretta and Barbara and cousin Terri

Some of Gary's family

Gary and me

Loving Lake Tahoe

Playing with Daddy by the lake

She loves her Charlotte

What a ham...when she wants to be...

Gracie and her Nana

Tim and his mom

Tim's parents made this scrapbook for Gary

Looking at his special book (Kim, Tara, and Diane)

Charlotte and me

Visiting with Greg and Madeline (Scott, Loretta, and Terri in the background)

Terri and Charlotte

Five of the eight siblings: Richard, Loretta, Gary, Roberta, and Barbara

Gracie was Gary's helper

CASH! (His favorite!)

On the MS Dixie

Me and my girls

God's Grace...and the Dentist

I am feeling so grateful right now for God's grace when I definitely don't deserve it.  I just ended a LONG time period of not going to the dentist. Why?  Well, first I didn't have dental insurance through most of college, and when I did get it, I was plain old chicken.  You see, I had the GREATEST dentist growing up, we called him Dr. Steve.  I never had to have more than a couple fillings, went to all my check-ups, had celants, did flouride, etc.  I almost always had perfect check-ups even through high school when I knew I was not brushing as much as I should...and floss?  Forget about it.  Fast forward many years.

Last year as I was giving a test to my students and while walking around the room I felt a tiny piece of my tooth come off.  Mind you, by this time we had dental insurance through Tim's work, and had for like TWO YEARS.  I thought it was a little odd that a little piece of tooth would break off but not weird enough to call a dentist.  Who would I call?  Our insurance wouldn't allow me to go to Dr. Steve, and we didn't have a lot of money to be able to go see him without it, and NO ONE else was allowed in my mouth...according to me of course.  Fast forward several months.

At the beginning of the summer, and very pregnant, I was sitting on the couch and all of a sudden another piece fell off.  A big piece.  I ran to the bathroom, very afraid to even guess what I would see.  I saw a good size piece of one of my molars broken off.  My tongue made it feel like it was the size of the Grand Canyon!  I was freaking out... I made the call to my insurance...where do I go?  They sent me to Access Dental center that Friday.  I went all alone, just 3 weeks away from having Charlotte.  They did a quick x-ray and the dentist came in to see me and SO non-chalantly says, "You need a root canal".  A WHAT!!??  I was crushed.  They sent me out with an estimate and strong urging to make an appointment that day.  I knew I needed to wait and check with my Dr. with how long he thought I should wait after the c-section to have the procedure done so I didn't make the appointment.  Thank the LORD. 

Meanwhile, a couple weeks later, Tim's mom was having a cleaning and I took Gracie in to see what the dentist is like.  Tim's family has always gone to the same dentist, and even though the dentist is retired and there's a new one, the office staff and hygeinist is still the same.  Keoko has known Tim since he was really little.  However, this was not a place we could go for dentistry either.  We were able to all go one morning and Gracie did great.  I know she has great teeth, good spacing, and is a champ at brushing...so I wasn't worried.  While I was there Tim mentioned my situation.  Keoko, as a friend, looked in my mouth, asked me about pain (which I had NONE) and strongly urged me to get a second opinion.  Long story short, I was in there the next day for an exam, and happy to pay out of pocket for the second opinion.  Dr. Knudsen didn't say they were wrong (darn!) but said they would schedule the root canal and if he got in and didn't have to do it he wouldn't.  I was able to talk to insurance, make a change, and get myself in to see Dr. Knutsen for my appointment knowing that we would have to pay more, but not ALL out of pocket. 

Fast forward a few weeks.  All this time, the dentist at Access Dental told me not to wait (she wanted me to have it done before baby)  and that it would get worse very quickly.  My appointment was yesterday with Dr. Knutsen.  Tim had the day off to drive me there (I told you I was a baby when it came to the dentist!) and he kept the girls and came back to drive me home.  I told everyone there that I have had two c-sections and I would rather have another one than be there.  I was pretty serious... :)  It's the unknown that makes me so nervous, and at this point I was planning on a root canal.   I don't know what I am going to feel, what's going to happen, what I will hear.  I learned a long time ago when Dr. Steve made me close my eyes for that first filling in 5th grade that it's how I prefer to go through any dentist appt.  From that day when I was 11, every appointment was eyes closed from the beginning.  I can open them as long as there's nothing in my mouth.  You should try it sometime...yesterday Dr. Knutsen was doing something and asked how I was doing (I loved that about him...so gentle and asked me many times how I was doing) and I said, good...what did you do?  He said, "I gave you a shot".  I didn't even feel it!  He got to work.  After a little while he had good news for now.  No root canal.  I would go on to have three fillings (one being the big one) and left knowing that with God's grace and if no toothache developed that I may never have to have one.  Also, I will be much more careful about what I eat, cutting out many carbs, because nothing scares me into eating better more than the thought of a root canal!  I am sitting here feeling so incredibly blessed and excited about my new dentist.  Dr. Steve had HUGE shoes to fill, and Dr. Knutsen did just that. 

Thoughts and Happenings...

It's been a couple weeks since I have posted...a couple of very busy, sleepless weeks.

We are loving being a family of four.  Chaos is fun, right?!  As I type this Gracie is back to sleep after waking up at 6:00 crying...and I am holding a bottle in one hand (yes, a bottle...I don't wish to explain why I am no longer nursing so please don't ask) as I type with the other. 

Charlotte surprised us by sleeping several hours at night two nights in a row!  It was short-lived, as she went back to her normal routine...but the 6 or so hours we got to sleep for two nights was amazing!  Tim has been back at work since Charlotte was a week old, but he is home some days all morning and goes in in the afternoon and we have had many days of being able to go to coffee and run errands as a family.  When he is at work I have been learning to balance taking care of two kids, laundry, cleaning, cooking, etc...Charlotte loves to be snuggled (something I didn't get with Gracie--still don't!-- and I love) so I do many of my chores one-handed.  I still haven't perfected the ring-sling which would allow her to snuggle on my chest hands free while I work...

Gracie is still a big helper, but her two-year-old behavior is to be expected.  I have tried to make sure she has special time, even if it's playing with a Rapunzel doll in one hand and feeding Charlotte in the other.  Gracie will go get diapers, return a fallen pacifier, wipe a mouth with spit-up, and anything else I ask. 

All in all, I am really learning to take pride in what I do.  God has blessed us with the ability for me to stay at home this year, and my new "job" is the most important one, no matter how much I LOVE teaching.  It is sad for me as my friends (as all my co-workers have become my friends) are preparing for the upcoming school year.  The beginning of the year was always my favorite...planning bulliten boards, kids with new clothes, backpacks, and haircuts, and the excitement of the very first day.  Last week I stopped by school and as Gracie and I walked toward the office, she said, "can we go to your classroom, Mommy?"  and I had to tell her I don't have a classroom anymore, it belongs to someone else.  That was a sad moment for me. 

As I finish writing this, my precious baby is now sleeping quietly on my chest, with her sweet face nuzzled against my neck (thank goodness for laptops!) and I am thankful.  Thankful for the chaos, the sleepless nights, the toys everywhere, the poopy diapers, spit up on my shoulder, and one heart that is FULL because my arms are full.

Nothing is sweeter than a sleeping baby

Play time!

She loves bath time just like Gracie did

Gracie trying Daddy's new shoes

She is all about her princesses and babies

Fun at the park!  *With "teeny tiny baby"

How could I not love to spend every day with these faces??

Happy Birthday Tim!

We celebrated Tim turning 33 with some of our family...it was a nice quiet evening at home

Hospital Stay and the First Couple Days Home...

Charlotte's birth story is pretty by the book, but every person's hospital stay is different.  Ours was relaxing bonding with our new baby, heart-warming seeing Gracie meet her new sister, and exhausting getting up many many times a night to feed, change, get vitals checked, etc.  We also have a funny story to tell...

On Sunday when Gracie came to visit we were trying to make her visit special and not all about the baby...so I asked her if she knew what my special bed could do...

She said no and I showed her how the back could go up and down as she "rode" it with me.  Then I said it can also be an elevator...and Tim pushed the button on the outside of the bed to make it raise up toward the ceiling...

Well, once we got up we couldn't come down...

Tim was pushing the button but the thing was locked!  We sent Gracie home and Tim went to get a nurse...

"Um...we were sorta playing with the bed and now it won't go down"

Three nurses couldn't fix it either.  One made a phone call to the engineer on call (who happened to be going to the bathroom at the time) and HE couldn't figure it out.

All this time I feel horrible because nurses are wasting their valuable time with me and my bed problem.  A while later the same nurse got a call back from the engineer who had to LOOK UP THE MANUAL and walk her through how to fix it...and VOILA after much button pushing AND eventually moving the bed all the way up (those things go up high!) the bed came down.

We promised not to push any more buttons. Ever.

They were probably glad we were discharged the next day.

We came home on Monday after 4 days in the hospital and were glad to be home.  We were also VERY thankful to all our family for the help while we were gone.  We had flowers, balloons, dinners in the freezer and fridge, fresh chocolate chip cookies, a happy toddler and doggie, and more.  My mom stayed all afternoon so Tim and I could concentrate on getting settled and I could continue to heal. 

Gracie has had her moments but for the most part, is doing great.  She wants to help with EVERYTHING, and goes running to Charlotte when she cries (which is not often...she is a great baby so far) and is wanting to just sit and look at her.  We have been hanging out as a family and enjoying these days while Tim is still home (he goes back Friday). 

Tim has ventured to several stores after some baby stuff, diapers, prescriptions, food, etc.  We all took Charlotte to the Dr. today, and we had a photographer come to the house today to do Charlotte's newborn pictures.  Other than that we have been watching movies, reading, and forgiving ourselves that the house doesn't look perfect. 

Charlotte Rose Orr- July 6, 2012

Yesterday we welcomed our little girl into this world.  The C-section was scheduled and went smoothly...and she arrived at 8:50 a.m. weighing 7 lb 15 oz.  Tim was able to spend some special time with her as they finished my surgery.  Then we were together to bond as parents to this new little princess.  The first night was rough but we are doing much better today.  Gracie has come twice to see her new baby sister and absolutely LOVES her.  She was singing to her, talking to her, complimenting her "cute little hands" and "cute little face" and has told her "I love you Charlotte".  It is precious to watch them together and it is one of the greatest things to see when you just didn't understand how your love could multiply so quickly, but it does. 

In the O.R.

She looked huge!

Tim got to help with her bath

Meeting Big Sister the first time

Let me do it, Daddy

Charlotte gave Gracie two new princess dolls

Charlotte and Gammie

with Grandpa

Grandma Debbie

Charlotte and Nana

With Papa

Gigi

Meeting sister the second time!

We all love you already, Charlotte!

Anticipation

Tomorrow is the day.  Last night I was remembering what my swim coach always used to say about sleep before a big meet.  He would say the night BEFORE the night before a big meet is when you want to focus on getting a good night's sleep...This is not any different to me.  Tomorrow is my "big meet" and considering I haven't been able to sleep much ANY night, last night I got a little more than usual.  Tonight I do not plan on getting much sleep, especially since we will have to be up and out the door at 5:30 anyway. 

Today I have been treasuring my time with Gracie (right now she is napping...) since it is her last day as an only child...and only grandchild...and only great-grandchild!  I know that giving her a sister is a great gift, but I can't help but feel a little sad that it won't just be the three of us anymore.  I have been super emotional about it today (but I am so sensitive anyway with all the excitement, worry, lack of sleep, etc) and we have been playing, watching movies, and eating special treats together.  I am grateful that I have had nearly two and a half years with her alone.  How could I not love spending every day with this face!?

So tomorrow I will have faith that everything will go smoothly, God will guide Dr. Phelan's hands to deliver a HEALTHY baby girl to add to our family.  I have faith that I will be safe, she will be safe, and I will rest in the fact that this time it will be different...I will recover WITH my baby and go home with my baby. 

"Be still and know that I am God."  Thanks for the reminder today, Kristy!