A Birth Story from 17 Years Ago

My boy is 17 years old today.

It doesn't seem possible that 17 years have already gone by (I'm trying not to think about his sister being 20! in October.)

It's funny how I can recall much of what happened 17 years ago today, but often times have difficulty remembering what I did just a week ago.

17 years ago today, it was hot. Well, hot for Aberdeen. Katelyn and I started the morning with the usual breakfast of cereal and juice. Looking for some relief from the heat, we went to story-time at the library. Grandma Whiting accompanied us to story-time.

I can't remember exactly what we did about lunch, but it might have been a McDonald's lunch. Then Katelyn and I headed back home and settled down for an afternoon nap. Once up from our nap, we just had a quiet time at home, watched TV, and waited for Dave to get home from work.

We had a simple dinner when Dave got home from work. Then Dave decided it had cooled down enough that he could mow the lawn. As Dave headed out to mow the lawn, I felt the first twinges of contractions. Since the previous day had been filled with Braxton Hicks, and I had just seen the doctor who said there wasn't much progress towards delivery, I didn't think much of the twinges.

Kate and I played and watched TV while Dave did yard work. I wandered out once to let Dave know that I was having some contractions, but they weren't any big deal. But eventually, the contractions became strong enough and regular enough that I decided we should head to the hospital.

It was about 8:30 p.m. when we called Uncle Dan to come and watch Kate.

We arrived at the hospital and got all checked in and settled in our room. I asked about getting an epidural (I went natural with Kate and decided that I wanted drugs with this delivery). The nurse checked me and said "Oh honey, you don't have time for that. You are almost complete."

 Because Dave and I hadn't really agreed on a name before we arrived at the hospital, I asked Dave in between contractions if we could please name this little person "Carson" if the baby was a boy. Yes, I did take complete advantage of the situation, knowing full well there was zero chance of Dave saying "no" while watching me suffer through the contractions.

Well bing, bang, boom and 4 pushes later we had our handsome little Carson. Grandpa and Grandma Whiting were there to watch the delivery. Dave was able to cut the cord. And I got to hold Carson right away. He melted my heart.

He may know exactly how to push my buttons, but he still melts my heart.

Happy birthday my boy.

Rules to Live By

Yesterday I attended a memorial for an outstanding young man. I first met him when he was in elementary school. I  got to know him a little better when he was in middle school and served as an office TA during his 8th grade year. He was a kind, considerate, polite, and always-smiling young man. Even when I would see him at the high school, he would greet me by name.

His life ended just as he was getting ready to go on to do great things. And Jansen was destined for greatness. But as one of the speaker's at his memorial noted, as he looked at the great throng of people amassed in the CV high school gym to honor Jansen, perhaps Jansen had already accomplished many great and wonderful things.

As I thought about that statement, I knew it was true. Jansen, in the time I knew him, was wise beyond his years. He was authentic and real as he interacted with others around him. He had 5 rules that he lived by and he live by them he did. His 5 rules were:

• Smile no matter what you are doing
• Family comes first
• Know that God has a plan
• Put others before yourself
• Be courageous (I think this was the last rule, but I can't remember it exactly)

Not often do you find a young person who lives life so selflessly, but Jansen did. And he did it with his whole heart and a smile on his face.

Jansen, thank you for blessing my life. Thank you for the rules you lived by. Your life touched so many and we will all try to carry forward your torch.

Feeling 25 Again

"Hit it!" I yell and then wait for the familiar tug.

OK, lean back a little and keep pressure on your back foot. ONE. TWO. THREE. UP!

Be patient, I tell myself. Let the boat get on plane before you motion for a speed change. Ah, there, that's more like it.

Wow, this is awesome! I haven't skied in 3 years. Oh how I've missed it. I've missed feeling the water brush across my ankle as I make a hard cut. I miss feeling the pull of the rope and the boat.

A breeze blows across the water making it a little choppier than I would like, but it feels so good to be skiing that I hardly care. I venture outside the wake and prepare for my first cut. The first one is a little tentative as I get used to being up behind our friend's boat. Back inside the wake, I scope the water to see if one side looks better than the other.

I cut to the right because the water looks a little flatter on that side. I pull hard to right and go out wide. Then I lean back, put pressure on my back foot, and imagine the rooster tail I'm pushing up behind me. This cut was definitely better than the first one, even if I do stand up just before cutting back into the wake. I've always been a bit of a chicken crossing the wake.

Back and forth I go. Smiling. Taking inventory of how everything is feeling. I'm loving this! Just like I'm 25 again, skiing without a worry in the world. I'm so grateful for friends who invite us to play.

Well, all good things must come to an end so let's end this on my terms before I get too tired and have some awesome crash that will remind me I'm not 25; crashes at 42 will probably hurt more. I signal "cut", release the rope, and glide to a nice, easy landing.

Things That are Awesome

First up, Carson's sea kayak. He has been working very hard with Rich and the boat is coming along quite nicely. He takes great pride in the work he has been putting into this boat. You can tell when you hear him talk about the boat and the way he beams when he can show us the progress. So Internet world, here are some pictures of the sea kayak. Feel free to comment, Carson will suck up the praise.

Even though Carson is very proud of his boat, he wasn't afraid to let little hands help him with a few parts.

Charlotte's turn

Greg's turn. There is a little too much glue on this piece and Greg can't wait for the glue to get on Carson's finger

Mission accomplished. Glue on Carson's finger & Greg thinks that is hysterical.


Cousin-time in general is pretty awesome.  Katelyn and Carson, despite being so much older than most of their cousins, they play and cuddle and just enjoy time with them. I attribute their ability to play like little kids themselves to their dad's example. It's pretty awesome.

I am so grateful that my big kids love hanging out with the little kids.

The Horror and the Heartache

This afternoon Katelyn and  I accompanied my mom and sister-in-law to Sweet Frostings, a local cupcake bakery. My niece and nephew were so excited to pick out their very own cupcake. Oh and the bakery had the most delectable flavors to choose from. Greg knew what he wanted almost immediately; he spotted the Neapolitan cupcake right away and even after seeing all of the other flavors, Neapolitan was his undeniable choice. Charlotte took a little more time to choose her eventual choice of Red Velvet. Since Carson and Dave weren't with us, I put a great deal of thought and care into what kind of cupcake I picked for them. I took into consideration what flavors both enjoyed and pictured them savoring the cupcake I picked for them.

I was so excited to get home and give the boys their treats. Dave was on a bike ride, so that was a little disappointing since I wouldn't get to give it to him first thing. But Carson was home and I was thrilled to share this little treasure of goodness I had found for him. I had snuck a little nibble of the frosting & knew that it was to die for (I mean who wouldn't love a salted caramel frosted chocolate cupcake). So I carefully handed over this treasure and told him to enjoy my carefully chosen treat.

He expressed appropriate appreciation for the cupcake AND THEN...

He promptly went over to the garbage can and SCRAPED.THE.FROSTING.OFF.

I almost died!

He didn't even taste the frosting before he dumped it in the trash. If he had only tasted it, I'm sure he would have overcome his aversion to frosting on cupcakes (an aversion I was not aware of). After I came out of my state of shock and he saw that I was disturbed by the dumping of the frosting, he did apologize and said he would have given me the frosting if he had known I wanted it.

So lesson learned...Carson does not like frosted cupcakes so don't buy him scrumptious, to-die-for frosted cupcakes. Or just scrape off the frosting and enjoy it before giving him the now-naked cupcake.

We Went Camping

We spent the last 4 days camping...well camping with almost all of the amenities of home. We had power, water, a comfy bed, barbeque grill, and a shower. Now if I have to go camping, that is the kind of camping I prefer.

We spent the time with Dave's parents and his sister and her family. We camped along the St. Joe River so everyone could get in a lot of fishing. I say everyone, but I am not part of that everyone. I took along a book so I could read in between the times I spent just watching my boys fish. I was also Carson's designated helper since his broken finger caused him some grief when trying to unhook the fish.

The highlight of the trip for me was our hike into St. Joe Lake. I think it might have been the highlight of the week for Carson as well. He must have said 10 different times that he was so glad to going on the hike because he and his dad had been talking about doing this hike for many years. It was a good thing that they were really motivated to do the hike because it was a bit of a drive to get there. From our campsite, it took us about 2 1/2 hours to drive to the trailhead. The first hour was on nice two-lane highway. Then we were on a paved single lane road for about 30 minutes. The final section of  the drive to get to the trailhead wasn't so much fun...it was 15 miles on rough, rocky, very narrow forest service road. That 15 miles took us an hour to drive. It was slow going for sure. Dave kept trying to look at the view. I kept asking him to just watch the road. Finally, at one point he just stopped so he could take in the vista. I was glad when we arrived at the trailhead.

We were the only ones parked at the trailhead so we knew it would not be crowded on the trail. I don't think I have ever done a hike where I and my hiking companions are the only ones on the trail that day. The boys were happy to see the empty parking area. They viewed it as a good omen that the fishing would be great up at the lake since it probably doesn't get much fishing pressure.

The trail was a gentle incline for the first mile and half. It followed an old road so it was pretty wide and easy to follow.

See how nice the trail looks?

There was a mushy, mucky area about a half mile in, but we were able to climb the bank a little to get around the worst of it. About a quarter mile past the swampy swamp, we came upon the first river crossing. The St. Joe river is only about 6 feet wide at this point and shin-deep so off came our shoes and socks so we could ford the stream. WOW! was that water cold. Imagine the coldest ice bath you have ever had to soak in; Dave thinks it was colder than that.

Safely across the river, we put on socks and shoes back on only to have to take them off again in another quarter mile to cross the river one more time. This time the water didn't feel so cold, probably because they were still a little numb from the first crossing. After the second crossing, the trail stayed wide and gentle slope for another quarter mile or so. Then it started turning more into a single-track trail and took a steep increase in slope. We hiked up, up, up for the next mile and half with Carson asking "what time is lunch" the whole way. At 3 miles, there was an outfitters camp that we stopped at for a quick snack break.

With Carson's belly full, it was time to move on with the last 2 mile stretch. The trail continued up at a pretty steep incline for another half mile or so. There were many fallen logs across the trail, just as there had been all along the way. This made it feel like a steeplechase trail (and cause my hip flexors to be quite tight the next day). There were also many beautiful wildflowers along the trail. Dave's favorite was the Indian Paintbrush and the bluebells. There were also many huckleberry bushes along the way, but we were too early for the berries.

Just as we were beginning to wonder if the climb would end, we left the trees and entered a mountain meadow. The meadow gave us a reprieve on the steepness for about a half mile. It also granted us a magnificent view of the waterfalls. Dave was the first to spot the waterfall.

We were glad to see the waterfall for we knew that once the waterfall was spotted, we only had a mile left of hiking. However, that last mile is all straight up. Along the way, we passed an old prospector's cabin and marveled that someone would purposely chose to live up there so far away from civilization. Next along the trail was another layer of the waterfall that couldn't be seen from the down below. Finally, the trail leveled out and after 2 hours 40 minutes of hiking, we arrived at our destination, St. Joe Lake.

The lake was amazingly clear. And by Carson's report, not as cold as the first river crossing. The mayfly hatch was going so the fish were jumping like crazy 6 inches from the shore. The boys were anxious to get to the most important part of the hike, the fishing.

And fish they did. Each one catching at least a half dozen cutthroat. It was exciting to watch the fishing. With the clarity of the lake, you could see the whole process from the fish swimming, investigating the fly, taking the fly, and then jumping and fighting after they realized they were caught. The fish were firm and their red color was the brightest the boys had ever seen.

The lake also boasts a healthy population of butterflies. There were butterflies everywhere! Some were orange, some were white, and then there were these beautiful little blue butterflies. Carson was, once again, the butterfly whisperer and got one to land on his finger.

I also had my first experience with licking honey bees. It was the strangest thing to have these bees land on my arm and then feel them licking me. They never stung me, just licked. So weird.

After the boys had their fill of fishing (about 2 1//2 hours), it was time to head back down. Some might think down would be easier then up, but I'm not so sure. Since the trail was so steep, your quads stayed engaged the whole time and your feet start to feel really hot. Needless to say, the thought of taking off our shoes to cross the river was a welcome thought. And it didn't disappoint. It felt so good to have that cold water run over my hot, swollen feet.

The boys and I agreed that the hike was another "must do".

Busted!

I have a secret. I thought it was a well-kept secret until the other day. Carson was putting dishes away in the cupboard when he says, "Geez, Mom. How much chocolate do you have hidden around the house?" I played like I didn't exactly hear him and gave a vague, evading answer.

I was surprised that he found the new hiding place because it is in the way back of a cupboard and you have to squat down to find it. I thought for sure this hiding place would stay hidden for longer than it did. And by the tone in his voice when he has the question, I think he has known about the hidden stash for some time now. But good on him for not eating the chocolate. The chocolate is mostly safe from other family members' consumption because my preferred chocolate is dark chocolate and the others don't particularly like dark.

So if the others don't like dark chocolate as much as I do, why did I start hiding it in the first place? Because I am a selfish, selfish mom and I didn't want to share. Actually I would share if asked, but there is one particular boy in the family with a bigger sweet tooth than mine, and he would partake of the yumminess without asking. In an effort to remove temptation from the house, sweets/treats were banned, but then my colleagues celebrated my July birthday in May and gave me a haul of dark chocolate. I kept it at work until the end of school, but then I had to bring it home. Hence, the beginning of the secret stash.

Again, props to the sweet-tooth boy; he has left the stash alone since discovering it. And now I'm free to eat it without feeling like a total sneak and chocolate addict, which I probably am if I'm being honest. I do love to have one square of dark chocolate a day and sometimes my day doesn't feel complete until I have that square (or if in total desperation, a small handful of chocolate chips.)

Oh, and the answer to his question, I only have the one stash. Yes, there are 3 dark chocolate bars in the stash, and a bag of dark chocolate-covered blueberries, but there is only one stash.

Trying to Avoid Summer Brain Mush

It is a month into summer vacation and I feel like my brain was sliding into a thinking slump. In an effort to avoid summer brain mush, I took the boys to the bookstore to acquire some summer reading material.

This is what I came home with:
A Terrible Glory: Custer and the Little Bighorn
Moon Handbooks: Charleston and Savannah
The Inner Cirlce

Carson brought home:
SAT prepbook
The Heart of Darkness

David came away with:
Cycling Plus (a cycling magazine)

I glanced through the Charleston guide book and will spend more time with it as our trip grows a little closer. I'm looking forward to creating a general outline for our trip as well as getting some ideas on "not to be missed" eateries.

I originally purchased the book about Custer for Carson because he enjoys reading and studying history. He, instead, wanted to read The Heart of Darkness. I have to admit that I am quite ignorant of what this book is about so I look forward to reading after Carson is finished. In the meantime, I am reading the book about Custer. I am finding it interesting, although utterly disturbing as I realize just how mistreated the Native Americans were. Carson and I were talking about that mistreatment and both came to the conclusion that even today the plight of the Native Americans is deplorable. The slaves may have been freed and slowly incorporated into mainstream society, but Native Americans seem to still be a detested, looked-down upon people. Their situation then, and now, is very sad and something we have much reason to be ashamed.

In other news:

 Carson seems to be doing well after surgery. His only complaint is that his dad and I are miserable finger-nail cutters. It isn't that we are horrible at that simple task, it is the fact that Carson wants his fingernails cut down to the quick and that is difficult to do. If he would just learn to bite his fingernails like his sister he would be OK. He goes back to the hand surgeon on Monday to get a smaller dressing. Dave has instructed me to take a fishing pole with us to make sure they make the cast fishing-pole compliant. He was only half-joking.

I saw the endocrinologist on Tuesday and my thyroid levels continue to improve. In fact, he said I could discontinue my thyroid medication. For as resistant as I was in the beginning to take medication, now that the time has come to discontinue, I asked him if I could continue the medication at least through the end of August. You see, this is the first summer in many, many summers where I have been able to successfully workout in the heat. I don't want to lose that ability and if the medication is what allows me to do this, then I want to continue with it for as long as it is hot. Fortunately, I have a terrific doctor and he agreed to let me continue with the medication, just cut my dose down to taking it Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. This dosage change will also help me avoid summer brain mush as it will force me to actually pay attention to what day of the week it is...I must admit that sometimes in the summer I lose track of what day it is.

Katelyn submitted her mission papers and is waiting to hear where she will be called to serve. She said that the call usually comes 3 weeks after you submit the application, even if your availability date is 6 months away.

Aw, Yeah...The Color Run

What a fun time I had with Katelyn and her friend, Rachel, participating in the ColorinMotion 5K (or the Krishna festival as my brother, Nathan, likes to say). The run was well-attended; I think there were over 200 participants. The pre-race time was fun and the DJ's/sponsors did a great job with getting everyone pumped up and ready to run; although, it was clear that they weren't runners because they kept trying to lead everyone in stretches. Real runners know that you don't stretch before you run.

At packet pick-up the runners received color packets that were supposed to be used after the run at the big post-race dance party. I guess some  people didn't feel like carrying those packets for the 3.1 miles because there sure was a lot of color being sprinkled, thrown, doused on others before we even started running. No one seemed to mind, though since getting covered in color was kinda that point of the whole event.

Soon it was time to start running. Katelyn had tweaked a back muscle the night before working the rigging for the play so taking deep breaths was very uncomfortable for her. That meant we spent more time walking than running, but no worries. I tried very hard to be encouraging, but not demanding. I would try to give small goals to run to. We always walked through the color stations because those were the areas where the volunteers would throw more color on us. At the last one, Katelyn and her friend rolled through the station. That was pretty funny. The only time that I insisted we run was when we were about 400 meters from the finish line. I said we HAD to run across the finish line.

A few pictures...

At the start, when we were all fresh-faced and uncolored.

 

 

Triumphant finish!

 

Wow! That was a lot of color!

 

 

We all stayed together so I have no idea how Katelyn and Rachel got so much more color than I did. The organizers warned blondes that the color would stain their hair so I was excited to think that I might come back with colored hair, but the only place that I have a stain is my right armpit area. I think it looks like a port-wine stain. It would have been so cool if my hair had picked up that color.

 

Even though I was disappointed I didn't come home with stained hair, I had so much fun with Katelyn. I hope she wants to do another one...maybe I can talk her into the Foam Fest 5k.

 

 

 

Post-edit: I should have been more clear about why I was confused on how the girls got more color than I did. Of course, rolling through the last station would account for more color on their clothes; however, it was the more color on their faces in their hair and on their faces that I can't explain. The volunteers at the color stations were very precise and careful not to throw color anywhere near our faces so that doesn't explain their multi-hued faces, especially Rachel's because we didn't run through any blue stations. So how those two came to acquire more color in their hair and on their faces when we were standing/running right next to each other is still a mystery to me.

Post-anesthesia Funniness

Carson is a pretty low-key kid with a quirky sense of humor. Post-anesthesia takes him to a whole different level. For one thing, he is much more animated (and loud) in his speaking. In this family of loud-talkers, he tends to be a mumbler. Not so much after anesthesia, after waking up from anesthesia he sounds more like the other loud-talkers in our family.

He is naturally pretty funny. He has such an interesting perspective on things and comes up with some unique ways to express his observations. Post-anesthesia just ramps up his natural tendencies to funniness. An example from today:

Disgusted by the very large, very bulky dressing he has on his hand, he stated,

The doctor should treat my finger like a salad; a little dressing goes a long way and then just let the natural flavor do the work.

Talking with Carson after anesthesia also reminds me of talking to someone who has been concussed. His responses are a little slow and sometimes make you say "Huh?" because the responses are a little non-sensical (think Kramer from Seinfeld). And you have to be prepared to answer the same question several times over. That, in and of itself, is pretty funny.

Lucky us, we get to do it all over again in 8 weeks when he gets the 3 pins removed.

It's July

Today is July 2nd. My birthday is tomorrow, but I'm celebrating today. Tomorrow is Carson's surgery so I will be spend tomorrow taking care of my boy. Actually, I can't think of a better way to spend my birthday...the focus not on me. I really prefer just a small acknowledgement of my birthday (a card, a "Happy Birthday" on Facebook, or a text), but after that I prefer the day to be just another day or a day focusing on someone else's needs.

The weather has been toasty the last few days. It's been lovely. I usually worry when the weather gets too warm because my running and biking really suffer; however, since starting my thyroid medication I haven't been too bothered by the heat while working out. Matter of fact, this morning I was able to do a brick workout (bike ride followed by a run) without any difficulty and the temperature was 73 degrees. That is such a change from the last couple of years. Prior to the medication if the temperature was much above 65 degrees my body overheat quickly and then start shutting down. It was not good. So I am so grateful for the medication that has shut down my overactive thyroid nodule. I am hoping that the medication has shrunk the nodule and I won't have further problems when I eventually have to go off of my medication (it is my understanding that the medication I am taking isn't really great for long-term management).

I'm watching the Tour de France. Hard to believe that a year ago we were there watching it in person. That was seriously the one of the best experiences of my life. I enjoyed it so much. I love travelling with my family. I'm looking forward to our upcoming trip to Charleston. I  can't wait to take in all of the history, the ocean, the scenery. People tell me how amazing the food is, and I'm sure it is, but eating is such a bother for me due to my food allergies, I hope I can enjoy all the rich food the area has to offer.

Speaking of travel, I leave on Friday for Rexburg to see Katelyn and run in the Color Run with her. I'm ready for the run. I'm not so sure about Katelyn and her friend. No worries though. These types of events are just about having fun, so if we run, jog, walk or crawl (did you know I once ran a race where I just about crawled? It's true. It was in high school and I was running the 300 hurdles. Well, I would run to each hurdle and then crawl climb over it. It was pathetic)...as I was saying, no matter what we do in this event, we are going to have fun doing it and not worry about running the whole way.

I think July is going to be a good month.