Sunday, June 29

Here I am in my lovely hospital attire...again. Dr. Twelves *FINALLY* diagnosed me this morning (around 10:30) with an "angry gallbladder". The problem is, she told me not to eat or drink anything today in case they are able to do surgery later tonight. I met with my surgeon, Dr. Hansen, who wanted to get me on the OR schedule this evening but so far, I have not had the surgery and I still can't eat or drink. This is a little miserable. But worth remembering I suppose.

 

 

Saturday, June 28

Well, I'm back at the hospital again! :( I have had fevers since I got home from having Ricki but this morning I woke up with a sore back, very sore neck, and my temp was over 101. Mom came and got me and took me to the ER and they admitted me. They were trying to rule out a uterine infection, kidney infection, and/or meningitis. I have had an ultrasound, several blood draws (and now have IV's in both arms), chest x-rays (to rule out pneumonia), and they've started me on 2 different antibiotics. I guess when I came in in labor, my white blood count was 22. Today, it was 17.8 which is still pretty high and means there is an infection somewhere. Luckily, Simon is able to come stay with me and bring Ricki too so at least I can see them while I'm going through this!

 

Friday, June 27

Grandma, Kristy, and Bentley stopped by today for a visit. I didn't know this at the time but Kristy is 5 months pregnant! It was fun to see them and chat. While they were here, my mom and dad also stopped by so we had a big 'ole Howard Family party! I just wished I was feeling better for it.

 

Thursday, June 26

We're going home! We're taking our bundle of joy home!! I love my hospital stay but I also love taking my babies home and resuming normal life with them. She is the sweetest little thing. I look at her beautiful little face and can't help but feel extremely blessed!

 

 

 

Wednesday, June 25

The top picture was take around 3:00am then texted to Ricki's daddy so he could see what he was missing out on in the middle of the night. :) Ricki's birth marks another special day in our family. Kenny got out of rehab and this hospital visit is his first outing as a "free man". We are happy that Kenners is doing so great and just keep praying that he can find his way on the new paths he's paving.

Tuesday, June 24

Instead of posting one pic for the day, I thought I would do one post for this special day. I didn't feel well yesterday and I found out it was because I was in labor. I had called and rescheduled my induction for Tuesday anyway but by 8:00 Monday night, I was in so much pain, I didn't think I could make it to my induction. I made a last-minute decision to call Grandma Sharon and ask if we could bring the kids to her for a sleepover and of course, she said yes.

 

Instead of heading home, we decided to go to the hospital just to "get checked out". I thought my contractions were about 10 minutes apart but when they hooked me up to the monitors, they were actually every 4-5 minutes but because they were so painful, I wasn't feeling every other one. I also had a fever that was over the 100.4 mark and my blood work came back showing a white blood count of 22 (11 is the high end of normal) so they knew I had some sort of infection going on. As a precaution for the baby, they started me on IV antibiotics immediately.

 

My pain was so intense, I finally opted for an epidural and got that in the wee hours of the morning. Although it did help the pain tremendously, it failed at the very end leaving me with the feeling of a natural birth followed by numb legs for a couple of hours. It also kept making my blood pressure drop so constantly throughout the night, they had to come in and lay my bed down then give me tons of fluid to keep my pressures up. The baby also started having heart decelerations that came just after my contractions then migrated to just before. I was scared this was going to lead to a C-section; a prospect that scared me to death! However, as you will see, everything worked out beautifully and my sweet angel baby girl has finally arrived!

Jenni did a beautiful birth story that included about 150 pictures. I only included a few here for this post. 

 The sunrise around 5:45 am. Jenni took this on her way to the hospital when things really started progressing.

Because I go from 7cm to 10cm in a matter of minutes, the epidural didn't keep up with my pain and I found myself in a very emotional state trying to cope with the pain. My mom felt bad for me and was trying to soothe me the way that only your mommy can do (even when you're 30 years old).

My sweet hubby was doing all he could to help me through this. That is a cool rag on my forehead because I got very nauseated right before she was born.

Not my best picture but I think it really shows what I was going through.

Dr. Twelves counted to 10 once, had me breathe for a moment, then started over. When she got to 2 or 3 she said, "Okay, you can stop pushing. She's here!"

The moment they set her on my chest was amazing. The first few things I said were, "Holy cow, this is a huge baby!" and "Is it for sure a girl?"

I was totally right; she was a huge baby! Rickelle Jane Pearson was born at 6:49 am, weighed 9 lbs 3 oz and was 21.5" long. Oh, and she's perfect!

Daddy is already wrapped around her precious little finger.

 

And mommy can't get enough of that silky smooth newborn skin.

 

Little princess after her first bath. How cute is she?!?!?

I have to give a HUGE shout-out to my amazing sister! She's always there, right by my side, and doing things that I would never even think of. She has been my photographer, leg holder, keep the kids for a sleepover, rock with all of my deliveries. I am so grateful that I was blessed with a sister! She is the reason I insisted that Kendra get a sister!!

Our first picture as a family.

 

I am so blessed! I have 5 of the Lord's elect living in my home and I couldn't be more thankful for that. I am also so very grateful for my extended family that took such great care of the kids and I. I truly do not know what I would do without them!

 

Monday, June 23

Mom had Jenni, Grandma Sharon, Aunt Jean, me, and all of the grandkids over for a super fun play date! Unfortunately, I wasn't feeling super well and didn't know why (see next post) but the kids had a blast playing in the water and running around. We had Papa Murphy's Pizza for lunch, snow cones and chocolate covered strawberries for dessert, and Mom even had a July craft for the kids. She bought everyone a white t-shirt and we painted fireworks on them. It was such a fun day!!

 

Sunday, June 22



I don't miss church. Like ever. But being 39.4 weeks pregnant and dealing with crazy kids through Sacrament, something had to give. I had Simon run Zack and I home while they went to the last hour of church. Sweet Zacky was able to get a much-needed moment of rest in before we are out the door again for dinner at Grandma and Jim's. I'm thankful for these brief moments of solace in my life.

 

 

Saturday, June 21

Today was SO MUCH FUN! We started the morning off at the Herriman parade with the Frasers. We saw Tall Bike Mike but I never thought to snap a pic of him! The kids got enough candy to last them the summer. After the parade, Amie & I took the kids over to the Riverton Hospital Public Health Fair. I wasn't expecting much but oh man, it was fun! They gave each of the kids a teddy bear that they bandaged up in the ER, they got to perform a laparoscopic surgery and remove a tumor (a box with balls in it), and even check out the MRI machine. It was totally worth going to and we wished we had made it over there earlier!  

 

 

Friday, June 20

I got to visit and catch up with my long-time friend, Jami. She just had a beautiful baby girl so mom and I went out to her apartment in Saratoga Springs to visit. It was really nice to get to talk with her and see her cute baby and adorable little boys.

 

 

Thursday, June 19

Simon bought a car! Okay, not this one but this was in the garage of the guy that he bought his new (super old) Honda from. It is a ZR7 Corvette. It is one of only two in the world! It has 1100 horse power, twin turbo engine, nitrous tanks in the back...it was AWESOME!!

 

Wednesday, June 18

Well...here I am. 39 weeks and counting! I was truly hoping sister would arrive on June 15 so Kendra could be April 15, me May 15, and sister June 15. I actually thought I was in labor all day on Wednesday but by the afternoon, my contractions had stopped. Oh well, she's just going to stay in there until she's good and ready!

 

 

Tuesday, June 17

Jenni and I had an impromptu sister day. We went to Sam's Club for lunch and to grab a few items we needed then ran a few other errands together. It was a fun day being with my sister!

 

 

Monday, June 16

It's been so long since we've gotten together with these girls! See the little girl Jenn is holding? She was a newborn the last time we got together and now she's almost 2! Between the 4 of us girls, we have 14 kids...soon to be 15 with my addition. The only place we can go with all the kids is a park. :) It was fun catching up and being with them.

 

Sunday, June 15

Happy Father's Day! There are so many fathers I'm thankful for but 3 that I will mention here. The father of my children, the father of my husband, and my father. I am thankful for all of these wonderful men and everything they do for our family.

 

 

Saturday, June 14

Spoiled by Grandma Howard! Jenni and I picked up Grandma at 11:00 and we headed over to the Cracker Barrel for brunch. Yum! Then we went over to Hale Theater to see Mary Poppins. It was so amazing! They do such a great job! We all loved it. In fact, Jenni bought tickets for BJ for Father's Day to take him back and see it. It was THAT good! It was a great day!

 

 

 

Friday, June 13

Jenni came over today and spent a lot of the day with us which was so fun! Today was Nick's last day of school but I failed to get a picture of him because he fell asleep after school then we went to rehearsal for Kendra's dance recital tomorrow. Even though this picture isn't on his actual last day, it gives a good comparison of how he looked at the beginning of the year vs. now. One thing hasn't changed though, he's just as sweet!

 

 

Thursday, June 12

My baby is all grown up! This collage is a comparison of Kendra's first day of Kindergarten in August 2013 and her last day of school today June 2014. My mom pointed out that she is 1 1/2 bricks taller now than she was at the start of the school year. :) I'm having a hard time thinking of sending her to all-day school next year!

 

 

Wednesday, June 11

I spent the entire day, from the time I woke up to the time I went to bed, cleaning my house. I just have an overwhelming need to get things ready to bring a baby home. I know every soon-to-be-mommy feels it but man, I was overcome today with it! I'm surprised with how sore and tired I was by bedtime that it didn't put me into labor! Either way, I am happy to report that my house is clean, sterilized, and ready to bring a princess home. (And no, the second picture IS NOT a picture from my home!)

 

 

Tuesday, June 10

Sweet Grandma Howard called me yesterday and said that she bought me a flower pot for my porch. She had a busy day today so she dropped it off to Jenni's house and I went and got it. It is so beautiful and pretty much the only flowers in my yard so I LOVE it! Thanks grandma!!

 

 

Monday, June 9

I am overwhelmed with gratitude for the adorable ladies in this picture. They threw me a baby "sprinkling" tonight. They sent out invitations that said come over after family night and sprinkle Heather with things for her baby. Little did I know they were going to decorate to the hilt, provide dozens of yummy desserts, and throw me a super fun shower! I had SO MUCH FUN and loved visiting with all the ladies that came. I feel very supported and loved and am continually thankful that the Lord led us here to live and to get to know salt of the Earth people like them.

 

Sunday, June 8

Today was a really hard day for me. Luckily, it ended with a birthday party for Ashley and I. I got to spend lots of time snuggling with this sweet little bundle of joy. It makes me that much more excited to bring baby sister home and get to do this all the time!

 

 

Saturday, June 7

After spending some time at our Muffett Family Reunion, my parents, Kenny, Simon, and I went out for my birthday dinner. We went to Tucano's at the Gateway downtown. It may just be my favorite restaurant and I got to go with some of my very favorite people. Happy birthday to me!

 

 

Friday, June 6

Oh happy day! I ran some much-needed errands this morning and then mom came over and washed my filthy windows. I can actually see out into my beautiful yard now! Thanks mom!!

 

 

Thursday, June 5

Poor little Zack has been needing some new sandals. He has flip-flops but they chewed up his feet so bad, I won't let him wear them anymore. Grandma Howard took pity on his little soul (no pun intended) and we went to Famous for some awesome new "Pider Man" sandals.

 

 

Wednesday, June 4

After living here over a full year and into 2 summers now, we finally have a fence! It's beautiful and gorgeous and I love looking out my window at it! Our back yard feels different now but I am getting used to it. In the meantime, no more tethering Dori to a stake in the ground or worrying about my kids running around the neighborhood when they go out back to play. YAY!

 

 

Tuesday, June 3

Nick had a wonderful scout activity tonight. They went over to our bishop's house and did a horse workshop. Each scout was able to ride a horse. This was Nick's first time ever riding a horse! The only small problem is he may be allergic. He came home with a pretty puffy and runny eye. :)

 

 

Monday, June 2

It was that time again to visit Dr. "Jo-Handsome" (my kids' words, not mine). Zack freaked out a bit when we got there but warmed right up when they put a Finding Nemo game on for him on the ceiling. Nick and Kendra both had x-rays and I'm happy to report, no cavities! Good job kids!

 

Sunday, June 1

We celebrated Grandma Sharon's 70th birthday in a big way! Here's the whole fam but this isn't the whole party. All of Grandma's siblings were there, Katie & Ryan, Matt & Joy, Amie, and even Kenny was able to come (I know he's in the picture but this is the first time we've gotten to see him in over a month). It was a fun BBQ to celebrate the birth and life of a wonderful lady!

 

 

Saturday, May 31

We stayed home pretty much all day waiting for Century Link to come out and fix our damaged phone line. All poor Simon wanted to do was repair some sprinkler heads. After the jerk guy finally came, the kids went to Viv's while Simon & I went to Café Rio for dinner then Home Depot to buy the new sprinkler parts. Simon asked the kids if they wanted to "help daddy" repair the sprinklers. Run around, get wet, AND spend time with daddy? Of course they did!

 

 

Friday, May 30

Three doctor appointments in three days...must be some sort of record for me! At my last OB appointment, I told Dr. Twelves that I've been having a little trouble breathing at night when I lay down for bed. She said it's probably nothing but sometimes late in pregnancy, you can develop fluid around the heart and/or lungs. She sent me to Riverton Hospital for an Echocardiogram. It was just an ultrasound of my heart but the tech that did it assured me that there was nothing to worry about. Whew! My sweet sister watched the kids while I had my procedure done and then when I got back, we had the kids make this garden stepping stone for Grandma Sharon's birthday. I think it turned out kind of cute!

 

 

 

Thursday, May 29

My darling Kendra missed her Kindergarten program a week or two ago because she was at home throwing up. I talked to her teacher and we got special permission to attend Graci and Jada's program instead...so she didn't miss doing a program entirely. It was a fashion show so lots of kids dressed up in favorite Halloween costumes and things like that. Kendra just wore her very favorite grey dress and Paparazzi jewelry. She's so beautiful!

In other news, we are getting our fence installed! YAY! I developed a sore throat last night around 10:00 and it was miserable this morning so I headed to the doctor after Kendra's program. Yep, I have strep throat!!! And the icing on that lovely cake was when our fence installer came to the door to apologize for having just cut our phone line. It not only knocked out our phone but our internet too...which in turn knocked out Netflix, basically our only television. So, the one day I want to just lay on my couch all day and relax and recover, I have no TV! :) Oh well, I survived.

 

 

Wednesday, May 28

I spent the day at Jenni's house today. I got some pictures off her computer, we sat and ordered some Shutterfly pictures, I did her gel nails, we had lunch...it was a super fun day! Here is a picture of her cute new pink nails all done!

 

Tuesday, May 27

Today was oh so busy! I ran a bunch of errands while Kendra was in dance then came home and got ready for a Scentsy party. The party was at Simon's branch so I had to be there about 6:00 to set up and be ready by 7:00. It was an awesome party but I was utterly exhausted by the end. Simon stopped after the party to look at a car so I was on my own getting kids to bed when we got home (around 9:45). I know you really can't see it in this picture but my poor little toes are like sausages and my feet were killing me! It seemed like a great night to sit, put my feet up, and enjoy a root beer float while I watched the news.