Baby Owen

On Sunday night we received a call from Jon's older brother that his wife was about to have an emergency C-section at 32 and a half weeks. Her uterus had ruptured and both Mama and Baby were in danger. This couple, they rarely do things the "normal" way. Alicia is a modern day pioneer woman, I tell you what.

A few years ago, they lost their Lydia who was born prematurely due to a tumor on her tailbone. In an attempt to rescue the baby, the doctors in St. Louis performed fetal surgery which left Alicia at risk for a uterine rupture in future pregnancies. The chances of it actually happening were extremely low, but this couple seems to beat the odds more times than not. Sure enough, the extreme pain Alicia felt on Sunday evening was her uterus rupturing. From the time they arrived to the hospital to the time little Owen was born was about 18 minutes. The medical staff moved fast for which we are extremely grateful. Alicia was hemorrhaging and Baby Boy was pale with way too low of a heart rate when they delivered him. Furthermore, he had moved out of her uterus and up towards her lungs!

Do you believe in miracles? Do you believe in a God in heaven? I do. And I most certainly believe that this little baby has guardian angels who take special care of him. An older sister, a grandmother, and an aunty to name a few. And once again, I am blown away by the medical procedures and technology we are blessed with in our current day.

We prayed with our whole hearts on Sunday that Dan and Alicia could have good news, that the baby would be fine, and that Alicia would recover quickly.

Heaven is answering. 

Isn't he so beautiful?

He's such a little fighter too.

To feel inspired and read more of the story from the proud and courageous parents, click here.

We love you, Baby Owen. Keep developing and thriving and growing so your Mom and Dad can bring you home soon!

One Year Older and Wiser Too??

Well, it's official. I only have one more year left in my twenties. 

A great birthday requires an early morning workout. So off to the gym I went while baby and hubby slept. Then I came home and did some core strengthening. 

My clogging friend made these workout pants herself! They are kind of crazy, like me. So I love them!

 My husband, I just adore him. He made me breakfast and played with Amberly all morning so I could go with my mom to our stake women's conference to hear Noelle Pikus Pace speak. Noelle won the silver medal in skeleton this past winter Olympics. She has so much depth and such an eternal perspective, hearing her speak was a fantastic way to kickoff my birthday. See a short clip on Noelle here. I love her.

The days just before my birthday were more emotional than I bargained for. Seth has always been there for every birthday, and it's so strange having him gone still. It will take some time to get used to his absence. 

In the mean time, I decided I better give skiing another go. Seth was a daredevil at anything extreme so naturally he was an incredible snowboarder. While skiing is in no way "easy" for me, it's less difficult than snowboarding and I would like to learn just because I feel close to my brother when I'm out adventuring.

Last time I went snowboarding, Seth held my hands and snowboarded down the hill backwards until I got the feel of it. He was extremely talented! He just wanted his little sis to gain confidence at snow sports.

Jon was a great teacher. It was only my second time skiing but I think more than anything he was just extremely pleased that I wanted to give it a go for my birthday. (Much thanks to our Dan and Alicia for offering to babysit on my birthday!)

We did a couple victory dances here and there because I graduated from the snowplow (I'm sure I looked like an idiot) and actually learned to weave down the mountain. It was fun and can I just say I married the best man. He's my best friend and he is perfect for me. 

Case in Point: The first run was discouraging and I wasn't loving all the ice either so I told Jon "Yeah I think I'm good. I'll just be a lodge bunny and let you ski for the night." Jonathan wouldn't have it. "Rach, look in my eyes. You can do this. I just have to explain the concept to you better, but I know you are capable. Besides, you can't just give up that easily when something gets hard! Trust me." Have you seen this man's eyes, by the way? He knows he can get me to do pretty much anything when he tells me to look into his eyes. Besides, I do trust him with my life. I know if he's right there, I'll be fine. The next time we were riding up the lift he was being hilarious and making me repeat things like "I'm going to try this again, and I'm going to be successful. AND I'm going to have fun." I would try to get around it with "MAYBE I'll even have fun!" but eventually that adventurous debater won again and I had to repeat the saying word for word. We balance each other out, you see. I tried to explain to him how incredibly out of my comfort zone I was strapping these things to my feet and trying to successfully slide down a mountain. The only analogy I could relate to Jon was "Imagine if you were front and center of a dance for 2,000 people and about to perform, that's how out of my comfort zone I am right now." THEN he understood. Something I would love love love, but he would be mortified in that circumstance. 

But you wanna know what? I really did have fun. It was romantic and I made major improvement and we're excited to go again. Husband was extremely proud of the Birthday Girl.

"You're doing it Peter! You're skiing down a mountain!"

On Sunday evening we celebrated with my wonderful family. Being around this girl is always a sure way to help me feel Seth again. I love you Britney. It meant a lot to me that she came and in a way it felt like Seth was there. 

Mama's Girl. She always rubs her hair when she's tired and when she's first falling asleep. 

Yes, it looks like there is an explosion. I get it, I'm old. BUT, I vowed to never complain about growing one year older and (hopefully) a little wiser too. 

Thank you everyone, for all the loves for my 29th birthday. Here's to one more year of my "Roaring Twenties."

December 2014

First off, our Dan and Alicia from St. Louis moved to South Jordan the weekend after Thanksgiving! Can you believe how fortuitous that is? We see them anywhere from three to five times a week. 

Dan found a job here in Utah and now their baby boy is due in just a few weeks. Needless to say, it all feels too good to be true. It's the best having these awesomes as neighbors. Alicia knew that I really wanted a picture of Amberly on Santa's lap for her first time, so they invited us to their ward Christmas party to borrow their Santa Clause. 

Here is our life of December, documented in photographs that I wish were better quality. 

Concerned, but not screaming! Okay I was a little disappointed I didn't catch her really crying on Santa's lap. This is still pretty darn cute though.

Don't even say the word 'hair' while she's eating, she loves putting food in it! Sigh...

  

Can't wait to teach her.

So this is Love. Future Mrs. Cole Neilson (my good friend Whitney's son)

Oh and I've been banned from contacts for a good three months. It's a bit annoying, especially working out in my nerd glasses, but hey I'm grateful I still have my eyesight. It is what it is.

I'm thinking she'll finally decide to walk somewhere around the end of January. She's getting stronger every day and as you can see, pretty proud of herself for her accomplishments.

 We took this little bundle to Temple Square before it got too cold. I couldn't stop thinking about how much I miss my brother this Christmas. 

Sporting her very first pony tail at the Festival of Trees.

The Purcell's have been Lifesavers. We always manage to go on really great dates with them like the Jazz game, BYU basketball game, and A Christmas Carol. We've got what we like to call "Couple Chemistry" so we just continue dating!

Baby girl made it to my Christmas dance performance. 

She had her first debut on stage when I brought her in the spotlight with me for the finale

(before we changed her into her jammies, that is).

And finally, Amberly's first Christmas (unless you want to count last year?)

 Ditto Christmas morning tradition on the stairs. I heart these kids so much!

Christmas Eve was really special this year as we reflected on the life of our Savior and what it meant for Christ to be born in a stable so long ago. Because he was born, and lived, and died, I will see my brother Seth again. Christmas was more profound to me this year than it has ever been.

Daddy with his little Christmas elf

Snowmobiling at Strawberry Reservoir, 2014

 Thanks to this great father-in-law of mine! He's so great.

 We froze but had a good time anyway.

And Amberly is on the mend after a rough two weeks of sickness. Somewhere in the middle of those days, she managed to pick up parainfluenza and a rash! Three Priesthood blessings and two doctor's visits later, my precious girl is recovering and acting like her happy self again. Talk about giving a mother stress and anxiety! These were my hardest days of motherhood that I have yet to experience. It's really scary to see a sick, lethargic baby. I kept thinking of pioneer women crossing the plains with sick children.

I'm so grateful this little girl is finally healing, and I am grateful for the Priesthood. It seemed like that nasty illness would never leave her little body until I asked Jon to give me a blessing too. How we love her.

A successful high school Christmas party again. I look forward to this party every year.

And of course, celebrating the new year, 2015!

This may have been the best New Year's Eve I've had in years.

White elephant gift exchange, games, good company, and a lot of laughter. 

A special thanks to Dan Ditto and his "dying goose" horn that he couldn't stop blowing at midnight. I think our neighbors might have been a bit confused, and a bit concerned for that matter.

 

 And our official New Year's Resolution for 2015 - Punctuality! I am already a late person, but Jon is way worse than me about being on time so together we are one dynamic duo. We've resolved to be better, and with that goal we'll have our hands full so that's all we're concentrating on this year! :)

Plus, I'm not one of those to make a huge list of resolutions. It's just not my style. One thing at a time, please. It's hard enough being this perfect. ;) ;) ;)