Daniel's Story (belated)

So I got ready to blog about Jacob's birthday and realized I had totally skipped Daniel (which says a lot about my state of mind when it was his birthday....August 29). So I am here to repent and tell his story.

Rick and I were open to having another baby starting when Jacob was 5 or so. It didn't happen, so we figured we were done. Around Christmas time one year I was walking through the house picking up toys and the spirit whispered, "You're going to have another baby" and I remember thinking..."wouldn't that be funny". You see, Jacob had just turned 9 and Laura had just turned 16, and I really thought we were done at this point.

So life went on and I didn't give another thought. I was teaching preschool 2 days a week and working in an office for CES every other minute the kids were in school. This was also the year Joseph's baseball and football teams had done so well and there had been tons of extra games in both seasons so they overlapped. Rick and Joseph had been to Florida for the Pop Warner Superbowl. It had been a crazy year! We had some teenagers who were pushing our buttons, to add to the mix. In February I was having all this trouble with my stomach and my hormones were a little out of control. I was tired all the time (I attributed it to my schedule, adding girls going to seminary, etc.). I took a work trip to Charlotte and wore lose clothes the whole time and even ate Mexican and my stomach didn't bother me. My clothes weren't fitting too well, but I wasn't gaining weight. I mentioned this to a friend who said...are you pregnant.....No...I think I am beginning menopause though. I came home from the trip and she met me at a cub scout function with a brown paper bag. She told me to take it home and take "the test" the next day. And I did........the rest is history, so to speak. Daniel was due September 18.

We had a ward picnic/FHE at Joanie Moser Park on a Monday night. One of the boys set my chair up for me...one of those old style beach chairs that the sections folded a bunch of different ways and evidently didn't quite get the leg up just right, so when I sat down I fell hard to the ground. It was only 6 inches are so, but when you are pregnant....that is a ways. I never felt quite right after that. On Thursday night we sat the family down and had a big name discussion. Evidently, even though Rick and I had successfully named 4 children, we weren't capable of naming this one by ourselves. I had had my first ultrasound and we new it was a boy. After much discussion (I wanted Caleb) Daniel Blake was decided upon. I finished covering the car seat with a new cover that night....I still had 3 weeks to go. Contractions started and the water started leaking and we got Laura up about 5:00 and headed into the hospital. Daniel was born at 7 something Friday, August 29. When I called my boss, Gary Delozier to tell him I wouldn't be at work....he teased me about being in the delivery room, and I had the pleasure of having a great come back---the baby was already here!

While I was pregnant with Daniel I had many choice spiritual experiences that were life saving and life altering concerning the rest of my children. It was a testimony to me of the Lord's tender mercies during trying times. I know Daniel was sent to our family when my other children were 17, 15, 12 and 10 because they needed him then. We have all been blessed by having him in our family....and continue to be daily. I love you Daniel.

Trick or Treat Bags

Check out these cute "Trick or Treat Bags". My children had some similar that are still used today (20 +) years later...so talk about "going green". They are lined with a contrasting Halloween print. The Black and Orange pumpkin is lined with a candy corn print. The Purple pumpkin is lined with orange and while dots. The bags measure approximately 14 x 10 inches with a 19 inch handle. These are for sale, so e-mail me at yayasdoodles@gmail.com if you are interested. FYI- these are not listed on my Etsy site.

Stay Tuned

I really thought I had blogged sometime last month....but it is not showing up. Hmmm......well I am going to change the focus of my blog a little and get back to my first intention of starting one. So stay tuned and give me your feedback as I go along.

Garrett

Guiding Garrett
Yaya loves Garrett
Garrett Douglas Bell
I have wanted to blog about these last 2 1/2 weeks, but there are still so many emotions. I am grateful for an all knowing and all wise Heavenly Father. I am so grateful to have met Garrett, had the opportunity to hold him and see his touch among so many. As his Yaya, I feel privileged that this precious, perfect spirit was allowed to join us for even a brief time. Watching his parents before and during his birth and short life, and since his passing has been an inspiration. I feel blessed to have raised such a daughter and more blessed that she found Jason.

More Jill Pictures

I thought at first these were the same "accident" but obviously not. I don't remember how she hurt the first one, but definitely remember the older one.
I put this one in so you could see how skinny the Mama is.


Jill talks about how much she loves the beach. This is her first experience. It wasn't love at first sight.

All of my older pictures of Jill have been given to her to put in her memory books. Her facial expressions remind me of Sierra and Paige. Claire makes a lot of faces too, they remind me more of the ones Jacob always made.

We are so grateful that we were allowed to raise Jill!

Happy Belated Birthday Jill!

First day home from the hospital: 6 days old
I did wish her happy birthday on her day.....but she kind of got lost in the events of the week....her cake was finally iced on Friday and that is the way it went. We love you Jill! With each child is a story and Jill has hers. About a month before Jill was born, I went to the hospital and stayed several hours, dilated to 2 and then they sent me home. Jill is child #2, but we were still clueless about what my labors were REALLY like.

They day Jill was born, July 1 1982, we had unexpected company that day who stayed for awhile. I had some canning to do and they had a lively bunch of children. I had been having contractions all morning, the kind that sent me to my knees when standing, but they were sporadic and not close at all. The company finally left and Rick and I had a huge fight about canning some beets. I believe he even called my mother to tell me to go lay down. So I did go lay down. It wasn't long until I was suddenly feeling the urge to push. (With Laura, she was sunny side, I had an epidural and had to be told when to push....never had the "feeling"). We called the Dr. and they had said come in but by the time we could get someone to the house (I can't remember now if it was Peggy Cranford or Phyllis Mecham who came), we were on a fast track to the hospital. Jill was born 20 minutes after we left home! That was scary! 9lbs., 2 oz. That was drama enough for one birth....but Jill likes drama....so that wasn't enough for her.

The next day when Jill wasn't quite 24 hours old, they brought her to me from the nursery and I noticed she seemed a little cold and blue on one side.....I didn't say anything....probably should have. (This next part isn't for the faint of heart, or stomach). She didn't want to wake up to nurse, I was jostling her back and forth trying to get her awake, when she gagged and threw up this huge blood clot. The rest is kind of blurry...but she kept on throwing up blood, they took her away and Rick followed them. She evidently then began to ooze blood rectally as well. Rick quickly got on the phone calling to find someone to come help him give her a blessing and those that were closest, we couldn't get hold of, but he did get Phyllis and Vern Mecham. Phyllis wheeled me into the ICU where they were giving Jill a blood transfusion with a hand pump as Rick and Vern began to give her a name and a blessing. The nurses thought they were baptizing her. She passed a huge amount of blood as I sat at her feet. We thought we were going to lose her. At that time the NICU was at Baptist in the fore runner to Brenner's Children Hospital. The last blood she bleed was while I was at her feet before they transferred her. Rick has his own experience with a prayer he had before giving her that blessing. As he prayed for guidance and comfort, he says he could feel the Lord's arm around him, letting him know, come what may, it would be all right. And it was. One of many great blessings for me was that my VT companion, Nancy Ray Goodyear worked in the NICU. It gave me great comfort and helped us when we needed to understand what was going on. They called her experience an "Upper GI Bleed" and treated her with Maalox! She was the biggest baby in that unit. It was sad to see some of those little ones and some had been there a long time. We knew then that Jill has a great work to do. And she has done many great things and still has lots to learn and accomplish. We love you Jill!

Utah!

My camera is on the fritz again - so I don't have pictures from the last couple of weeks. I finally finished Claire's quilt (yeah!) and it turned out well, if I do say so myself. For my birthday, Laura and Jason were kind enough to give me a ticket to fly to Utah for a week to see Joseph, Katie and Claire. It was a great week. I had some down time from the whirl wind of the end of preschool and before the whirl wind of Daniel's last week of elementary school. I am becoming an old pro at the flying thing....no flutters as the plane took off and landed this time. I was most excited that I could take some crocheting on the plane. I finished a swaddling blanket for Garrett and another one to sell!

Claire was so much fun. I so enjoyed getting to know her little personality. She is crawling and is everywhere. She really likes to stand up best and she gets to her feet on her tippy toes. That unfortunately means she falls sometimes and usually bonks her head. One time Katie pointed to the back of her head as she crawled away from us and it was covered in little red places where she had hit her head on different things. I was worried when I first got there if she would like me. I had heard she didn't like new people at first. I decided to sit next to her as we left the airport....but she started screaming, so Joseph pulled over and I got in front. By the time the night was over, she could look at me and not scream. The next day, we were buddies. She let me feed her, change her and put her to sleep, and she would crawl up and give me hugs. That is always the best! We went shopping to several places....I was very upset when we went to Wal-mart and found out THEY STILL HAVE FABRIC! The stores around WS made us think all Wal-mart were getting rid of fabric. I saw some bee fabric and had to by some. (My class is the Busy Bees at preschool). I also gather fabric from places I have been....so what better than bees from the Beehive state? Joseph took me to where Lindsay (Katie's sister) works and I saw where she designs scrapbooking paper and things.
http://www.pebblesinc.com/main.cfm?categoryoid=27&productoid=247.
I keep hoping she will design some fabric that I can make something from. That would be exciting. On Thursday while Katie was at work we went up to Bridal Veil Falls and a point, whose name I can't remember. It was beautiful up there. I had to laugh because on the way home Joseph decided to take Katie something to eat and we looked up something close on his GPS. It said there was a Sonic near by. When we followed the GPS to the address....it was a house in a neighborhood. We thought we should go up and ask for an extra-long Coney with a Slushy! Friday we went up to SLC to see Sara, Shawn, Nathan and Ashley and we stopped at Ikea on the way. I have been hearing how great this store is......and I am sold. I can't wait to land some cash and head to Charlotte. I want to organize my sewing/computer/office room and found the solutions at a reasonable price. Can't wait to get there! It was great seeing the Dunlap kids too. My last day we got up early and went up to THIS IS THE PLACE monument and had a picnic. We made a quick stop at a great fabric store that Katie and her family have found. It was wonderful. I could have spent hours and lots of money there....but thankfully I didn't! I had a great ride home....empty seats on both planes. Thanks Joseph and Katie for a wonderful time. I also got to see Joseph play softball. It was great to see him hit.....I kept waiting for the slide across home plate during a pitch....but thankfully I didn't! That always made my heart stop!