an un-expected...... vacation?

ok, so this week has been crazy.  NOTHING like i had planned it.  so here is a 'journalistic/memory saver' post.  and for all those who only got little tidbits from facebook.

Friday (jan 22)  i started have random contractions.  some were painful, and some were not, but they were more frequent then normal.  so i called aunt cait the great, and she came to help me with the boys, since i decided that i needed to take it easy in bed, just to be safe.  i was only 27 weeks, and so this was far too early for me to have ANY contractions like i was having.  they werent consistant, or anything, so i didnt call the dr.  i KNEW it would be ok.  saturday and sunday i was great!  i took it easy and i was really REALLY careful, and i felt great.

Monday came, and i needed to take monkey in for his 1 year check up, and go to walmart since they are close together, and we desperately needed milk and oj, so i was a good girl and ask laura to come.  she was great and said sure and we went and it was great.  Monkey weighs in at 20 lbs 12 oz and (15th%) and is 30 and 3/4 in long (80th%)  what a shock that i have a tall skinny kid!  =)  anyway, we come home, the kids take a nap, and i take it easy to be safe, i was rather busy that morning and i dont want to try and tempt fate by any stretch of the imagination.  so even though i feel AWESOME, i do NOTHING!  i didnt even make dinner (poor joe).  chunk does start to run a temp, so i am kinda worried about him, and monkey did get 6 shots and he is getting 4 teeth so he is kinda sad, but i know he will be ok, so  i go to sleep and all is GREAT and i am excited for tuesday.

well- i wake up tuesday morning, and i head straight for the potty, that is after all what a pregnant person does first thing in the morning, go potty.  and i grab the stuff to do jellybean's hair.  and i go back to sit on the bed, its too chilly in our bathroom and we dont like to do hair in there in the winter time.  i do her hair, kiss her and joey good bye, and sit back and watch the news while i wait for signs of life from the boys.  and since they are sick, who knows how long they will be.  well, as i sit there, i realize that i am having contractions, and many of them.  i start to count and watch the time like a dutiful patient and slightly paranoid person.  i have 6 in 45 minutes.  not. good.  i then call joe, mom, laura and cait to warn them, call the dr.'s office to let them know that i am eating, and counting the contrations again, and i was told to come in if i hit 6 again in the hour.  ok, so i sit and eat and wait and count.  yuck.  cait comes over, helps feed the kids who are now up, except chunk whose tummy feels yucky, and just be an all around great help.  times up, and i hit 6 in an hour.  so laura takes me in.

in the office they check me.  no thinning or dialation.  they do a few tests, and then decide to put a monitor on me to see how my contractions are.  10 minutes later, they decide that i will be check into Labor and Delivery, to STOP my contrations that are now happening every 3 minutes!!!!  i am then informed i will be there over night for observation.  i cry.  i wanted to be home, with my boys, who needed me.  and this kinda freaked me out!  Laura is a HUGE comfort to have with me.  i call joe and mom.  none of us are excited about this.  i am stabbed and poked and prodded, and given "anti-contraction" medicine that raises my heart rate and makes me all jittery and shaky, and i cant focus.  i want to cry, but i dont.  laura goes and gets me some books, herself lunch, and run an errand.  i start to feel better now that they are done giving me the AWFUL shots (i got 3 shots, 1 every 20 minutes).  i eat lunch.  it was good.  but i wanted to be home, needed to be home!.  joe take work off early, gets jellybean from school, goes home to check on things and get my stuff for over night, and he and jellybean come to see me.  laura left so i could spend time with my jellybean and joe- it was SO GREAT to see one of my babies, and my hubby.  joe is so exhausted, he starts to fall asleep, so i let him take a 20 minute nap while i bribe her with stuff in my purse and a random show, to be quiet and let her daddy sleep.  she got bored after like 5 minutes.  cant blame her.  so did i!  after he wakes up, he then has to leave.  we do have 2 other children who need their dad, and a hungery girl.  they kiss me bye.  i cry.  again.

i was then alone.  and i felt alone.  i HATED it.  i hated the IV, the monitors on my tummy, the bad tv connection, the stupid shows.  i was so sad.  but i was ok with it, i knew my family was being taken care of.  i knew they would be ok.  and i knew this was good so that way, we could keep baby in longer.  he needs to be there longer.  9 more weeks longer, atleast.  but i was still so sad.  the dr came in later and looked at things and felt better.  she prescribed me meds that will stop the contractions, and kept me over night for more observations.  that was a sad night.  i know.  i am pathetic.  this newer medicine doesnt make me all jittery though.  its a lower does, so its not too bad, if im not careful, it will make me dizzy if i stand up too fast and stuff, but that i can deal with.

the next morning i called and told jerra to have a good day, and see how the night went.  it was fine.  when joe got to work, he told his supervisor, dr lee, about what was going on, and he sent joe to the hospital to be with me.  it was AWESOME!!!!!  cait the great was with chunk having a pj party and drinking a strawberry shake and watching star wars.  he still is running a temp and having a 'yucky tummy', while laura was with monkey.  i think i missed them more at that point.

after joe got there, i felt MUCH better.  i wasnt alone.  i could talk to someone when i wanted, i could hold his hand.  it just made me feel better.  they did a another test.  this one checks my body for a specific hormone that the body releases when is starts the labor process.  its fairly new and rather accurate.  we wait for  the results.  if it comes back negative, i am ok.  positive, and i am on strict bedrest.

so i wait.

we wait.

we all wait.

and wait.

but i am ok, joey is there.  i know with him there, it will be ok.

the dr comes in.

she smiles.

and i sigh.

its negative.  i had a feeling it was.  but i wasnt sure if it was hope, or assurance.  i guess it was both.  =)  i kept telling myself it would be negative, cuz that made me feel better.  so now i am on the "anti-contraction" medicine and they found i was aneamic.  so many pills i am taking now.  oh well, i will do it for him!  (he better be cute and super sweet!!!!!)  i am now only only 'light duty' not 'restricted duty'  those are my terms for it.  i can vacuum small areas again.  that is happy for me.  i can relax a bit, not all the way, i am not outta the woods until april, but i feel better.  he is good.  he still has a party in my tummy ALL the time, oh and he HATED the monitors on my tummy.  he kicked them, lots.  it made me smile.  he is fiesty, and probably opinionated.  as hard as that might be, i am happy for that.  it will be fun.  =D

anyway- that was probably one of the longest 30 hours.  it was not what was planned.  i came home to a monkey that wouldnt let me outta his sight, a happy bouncy jellybean, and a sad chunk who still doesnt feel good.  and he wanted to snuggle.  i was never happier too.  that is all i wanted to do!  monkey protested, but it all worked out.  i realized how much i love my home.  and especially my family.  i think that this was needed wake up call.  a stinky no fun one.  but needed.  we got things in order for me and joe, and we realized how careful we need to be, more vigilant.  i decided that it was a good thing that i couldnt find paper to write on, or anything, because my 'to do' list would have been monsterous.  and it would have stressed me more.  not good.  but i am good.  i have re-prioratized.  i feel better, mentally and physically.  kinda nice.  i also realized again and more intenesly that i have some great people around me.  that i have truly been so blessed with everyone who is in my life righ now.  both far far away in a land called utah, and here in texas, to mention a few places.  it was a rather eye-opening 30 hours.  its amazing what a person can find in themselves in 30 hours of sitting in a room thinking.

anyway- there you have my novel (sorry).  you have an update, and a play by play.

but just to reassure- we (me and baby) are good.  his heart rate is strong and healthy, and he is fiesty.  i really havent had any contractions since i started the new medicine.  monkey is doing better, and i think chunk will be on the mend soon.  and princess jellybean is happy, and good.  and i think that everything will be ok.  now matter what will happen, it will all be ok.  =D  so dont worry- be happy!

<3

last week.......

to be honest last week was kinda rough. not only did we have REALLY cold temps- which you understand that if its 20 degrees and then there is humidity, how cold that feels. anyway, claysen started to feel kinda gross, and max was working on moving some teeth up while struggling with a cold, anyway, so i had 2 cold, sick boys all day and then joseph is kinda still feeling not so good, not bad, but definately not good, and i was starting to feel yucky cuz i am trying to fight off this cold that i am almost getting. and its COLD outside and i have a drafty house still. anyway, after 3 days of below freezing temperatures- like in the 20's and teens, saturday night after joseph works and gets a WHOLE WALL of shelves in the library up, and i do the little that i can, i start to feel really like my head might explode. well joe is playing his game with some of his friends, and then at about 12:30am, i hear screaming so i do a stagger/run up the stairs and to jerras room, to find she had thrown up. and so we had to shower her, and get her bed cleaned. well- joe gets off the comp, cleans the bed, i shower the girl, with the only shower that has hot water, cuz the other ones are broken- literally broken, and we snuggle and warm her up, then put her back to bed. we didnt think it would happen again cuz there was really no temp or anything else, but, well- at about 3:30, screaming again, this time joseph runs up, and brings her down because.... she got everything else on her bed, yuck. so she is sleeping with us, (ugh).  well- suddenly joey throws on a coat and shoes and runs outside, where its 12 degrees, to discover that ANOTHER pipe had broken even with the water that we had running! so that is like 3 lines that have broken! so he turns the water off to the whole house, and comes back to bed. jerra continues to throw up throughout the night (4 more times) and i dont sleep because i am trying to figre out how to live life with 3 kids who are not feeling 100%, one of those 3 throwing up, 1 of them having abnormally disgusting stinky diapers and is running out of clothes, and one feeling kinda left out cuz of the attention the other 2 are getting, through life, while cold, and sick, and NO WATER. that means no baths. and i have to fill water buckets out front to do any cooking- and toilet flushing (fill the back tank to flush). oi. dishes, i have to heat the water on the stove/microwave and stuff to do them, all while TRYING to take it easy! and all while trying to sleep but yet i have a little girl throwing up in my arms. lucky? yeah right.
oh well.
luckily i have a great friend who came and got jerras stuff to wash and i can shower at my wonderful inlaws. and stuff, that will be kinda exciting for the kids, a hassel yes, but atleast we have them to be able to help us! yeah- i guess its really not too bad, joe fixed pipes on sunday, and since it was so cold it had to set for 48 hours, well, tuesday night when he checked the pipes, he found one that he had missed. to the washing maching. that was harsh. so he couldnt fix it till wednesday night, so now i wont be able to do laundry till friday night. again- we are lucky to have family so close! and yeah its not that bad, it could definately be worse, i was just a lot for me to handle feeling so gross and having such a long week.

and as you know i am on limited duty- or bedrest will be in order.  that is REALLY hard for me.  i watch my exhausted husband pull double duty, and i feel so bad, cuz i can only keep up on laundry, as long as the loads arent too big, and dusting, ironing, and the 'little'things.  i do have help from clint and laura, my best friend here- Lynn, and a WONDERFUL yw named Marisa, she comes once a week atleast to help me around the house and vacuum, and scrub tubs since i cant do that.  and that keeps me sane!  i dont know what i would do with out these people helping.  i know its good to suffer now doing the 'little' things only and not be put on bedrest, cuz that would be worse, but i feel so good that its really hard to control myself.  not to say that my belly doesnt hurt and that i can do hardly ANYTHING sometimes because of discomfort, but it all works out.  that is my whinning.  i will try to be done now.

max said a prayer tonight.  he folded his hands and 'talked' and said his 'amen' and everything!  it was sooooooo adorable!  i almost died laughing cuz he was so cute and happy with it!  i love him!  max turns ONE on saturday- how crazy is that? the 16th, and i will have a 1 year old. that is so weird for me to think! he is really starting to grow into a little person, he doesnt talk much, but he sure has a heck-of-a- squeal! it really does sound like a monkey! =) its really cute! oh and for his birthday cake- we do cupcakes- in my FABULOUS cupcake book, they have the CUTEST decorating tips for making monkey cupcakes! so that i what i am doing and i cant wait! i hope they turn out though, i have never worked with fondant before......
claysen is a crazy little boy. he has soooo much energy its crazy. but at the same time, so sweet. he still loves transformers and dinosaurs. and its really cute to watch him start to play with max. i love it. he is also showing interest in reading, he tries to all the time, he just doesnt have the patients to work at it. but he is only 3 so i am not worried.
jerra is such a soft hearted little girl. she is going through a hard phase where she is hurt easily, and slightly paranoid. its weird, and now we struggle with acknowledging the problem without making too big a deal about it, so that way she doesnt make it a bigger deal ya know? weird limbo. anyway. that is her, and she is getting girlier by the day, and i didnt think that was possible! thats ok she is still super sweet!

ummm...........
yeah........... i will stop now. this is long.  and i really dont ahve pictures to show for the month so far- we have been too cold..... but i do have things i want to tell you, i am just to cold and tired.  so yeah.
sorry that you read this.  have a good day!

Christmas Letter

since we have family and friends that live past the resonable distance for letters.... (we are talking they wouldnt get them till march)  here is a copy of our Christmas letter that we sent out.

Hello!
How crazy is it that another year has flown by so quickly! This has been a fun and exciting year for us as a family as we welcomed Max Emersen into our lives. He was born January 16th at 1:33 am! He weighed in at 7 lbs 3 oz. and was 20 inches long. It was the strangest delivery that I have had, but he is the sweetest little guy! His nickname is Monkey Max, and he definitely lives up to his name! He has two expressions, smiling, and smiling big! Everyone thinks he loves them the most because of how he smiles at them! He was furiously crawling around at 9 months, pulling himself up and walking around things at 9 and a half months, and loving every minute of trying to catch up with his favorite siblings. He is a joy in our lives, and keeps us smiling constantly.
Claysen Marcus (3) is a curious, industrious, adorable boy! He definitely keeps us on our toes with his building things, and taking things apart and trying to put them back together! He is into everything Transformer or Dinosaur or train or car- pretty much all ‘boy’ stuff. He is fun and a loving big brother and little brother. He can’t wait to go to pre-school next year!

Jerra Dene (5) is a happy, beautiful, and vibrant girl. She is soft hearted and kind to everyone and everything. She loves animals and little toys and things that sparkle. She is in pre-school right now, and her teachers say she is thriving and at the top of her class. She is showing a great interest in music, math, reading, and art. She says she ‘loves them all’.

I (JoAnne) am trying to keep up with 3 busy, creative, energetic kids. But I wouldn’t change it for the world! I am achievement day leader at church and enjoy that calling greatly.

Joseph is busy at work. He is the Elders Quorum 1st counselor again, and that keeps him busy. He continues to work on the house and is doing a great job! We love our house more and more, and he really has done a beautiful job with it. (I love bragging about it).

This has been a great year full of surprises. Like when we were flabbergasted to learn I was pregnant, again, and due April 22, 2010! We went on a family trip to Utah where we stopped to see Carlsbad Caverns, 4 Corners, and then the mini Zoo at Hole in the Rock, we also were able to spend much needed time with family. We also spent a lot if time at the lake this summer where the kids learned to swim, and that was just pure enjoyment. We know we are truly blessed with all we have and with the time that we have together, and we are grateful for that!

We hope this year has been good for you, and this next one will be even better!
Love,

Mabey’s

Joseph, JoAnne, Jerra, Claysen, & Max

Christmas 2009

ok, so i was hoping that i would have gotten all caught up with 2009 IN 2009, but alas, it did not happen. so here is our wonderful Christmas celebration......

we started out at the ward Christmas party.  it was so fun to beable to celebrate with friends and family and those we love.  it was wonderfully done and the food, as always, was great!  this is the only picture i could find of ALL off us, notice joe and monkey in the background, this is when we were waiting for santa.  chunks expression says it all about how he was feeling.  but they both did very well- and monkey didnt eve cry!  he actually gave him high five!  that was a HUGE improvement in respect to the other to kids!  and i cant find the pictures that i have of them with santa, kinda sad- i will have to find them.....

anyway, then we went on to make the sugar cookies that one must make for every holiday so that way you can decorate them, and then feel like a good mom for doing something the kids love and that you can give away, and use, and eat, and takeup time- all in one shot.  we LOVE to do this, i think if i had the energy to make sugar cookies for each holiday, i totally would, make little boats and globes for columbus day and stuff- how fun would that be?  and not to mention, i have the YUMMIEST cookies recipe!  as long as you dont work the dough too much, and that part i am still getting down.  oh well.

here are the 2 big kids- jellybean got that apron for her birthday, and she loves it- she is a 'princess making cookies'  =)

hes too young to really do anything productive and he was NOT excited about the dough, so he played with bowls and stuff.....

a fraction of the mess......

these are the candels we made for jellybean's gifts to give to her teachers.  i think they turned out pretty!

here are chunk and jellybean decorating the kids tree upstairs, they really enjoy the fact that they have a special tree that they can decorate however they want!

and monkey didnt know what was more fun, the ornaments, or the fact that daddy had a camera- isnt he too cute?

isnt he a hansome man?  i can see why mommy was caught kissing santa!  (*heehee- wink,wink*)

here is us decorating..... (half the string of lights went out, and so after i went to the store to buy more lights, we undecorated and then RE-decorated the tree.  the kids thought it was hilarious!  but just picture the finished tree with colored lights all the way up to the top!  =p

here is where you can see baby belly....... ugh.

so ya remember the cookies we made earlier? well- this is where we decorate a sugar cookie family for santa- the kids each decorated their own- i helped monkey cuz he was sleeping.......

here is chunk and 'cookie chunk'

jellybean and cookie 'wanna be jellybean'

daddy and 'sugar daddy'  (i couldnt resist that one....)

and the momma's!

arent we the 'sweetest' family?  (ok i know the cheesiness is awful but its just too easy at this point)

after the kiddos were sleeping and we were awaiting santa to make his appearence, i was told there was snow on my car.  so i checked- and i had to get proof!

see!!!!!  yes it was gone by first light, but still!!!  how AWESOME is that!  i had a white....ish Chirstmas!!!

well- santa did come, and he left some good stuff for everyone!

the grown-ups.....

the big ones.....

and the baby!

*disclaimer- i havent found stockings that i like that arent like $80 each.  so i am using these until i decide what kind of material and stuff i want to use to make some.  i was also waiting to be done having babies, and since this is the last...... well now i can really start searching!

here is the 'mommy and daddy' tree as the kids call it, bottom branches are empty because of the cats, not the kids- how funny is that? 

and here is the leftover family that santa couldnt eat, with the note.  the kids thought it was hilarious how santa ate different parts of everyone!

all in all- it was a great day!  clint, laura, and cait came over after breakfast and we all opened presents.  it is so special to be able to spend it with those we love and remember why we really celebrate this special holiday.  jellybean was really cute- she asked if we were going to make cupcakes and sing for baby Jesus becuase we were having his birthday party.  and at some point in the day, i about cried when i heard them telling monkey the Christmas story, and say: 'we give presents because the wise men gave baby Jesus presents.'  how sweet that they can make such connections at such a young age and be thoughtful enough about things to want to make cupcakes for baby Jesus.

every year since jellybean was born, i have had a new respect for Mary and what she went through.  i held my little angel on Christmas day, and she held hers, but our thoughts were so different and in some aspects the same.   she sat in that stable and thought about what His life would entail being the Son of God.  she worried about His health and education, and if he was warm enough, and if He would always know how much she loves Him.  and many years later, i sat in my heated living room, un-bundling my baby, wondering if she was warm enough, and if she would be completly healthy, and smart and happy.  but i wondered if i could teach her to be like Him well enough.  and if i could ever convey to her how much i really truely was changed because of her presence.  Did Mary wonder how she was ever going to teach the Son?  i think i will have to have a very long conversation with her when i get to heaven.  she really was a wonderful example of trusting our Lord.

anway, i hope your Christmas was as good as ours!