Here's a sampling of Luke's latest handiwork. And if you're thinking, "Gross--why aren't those in the diaper pail?" I refer you to my new motto: "I'm not lazy, I'm just tired." And as a matter of fact, I did put them in the diaper pail immediately following this picture, because the aroma was getting to be a bit much in the living room. So there.
Monday, October 19, 2009
All in a day's work
Here's a sampling of Luke's latest handiwork. And if you're thinking, "Gross--why aren't those in the diaper pail?" I refer you to my new motto: "I'm not lazy, I'm just tired." And as a matter of fact, I did put them in the diaper pail immediately following this picture, because the aroma was getting to be a bit much in the living room. So there.
Happy birthday Ava!
10/19/09
Yesterday, my cute niece Ava Murset turned one, and my whole family turned out for her party.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Zion
Yesterday we went and joined the throngs (and trust me--the crowds they were a throngin') at Zion National Park. Since it's so close, we were anxious to go up there again, now that the weather in southern Utah has finally gotten below boiling point. Luke was great and didn't even seem to mind the heat, getting sardined inside the trams with smelly tourists, or being trundled around the trails in his stroller. Of course, if he had been awake, he might have enjoyed the scenery more... I think we have a new favorite: the Temple of Sinawava river walk. Gorgeous!
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Sleep...
10/13/09
...Too bad I'm not getting some. Mark, Luke and Madelyn seem to be logging in their 7-16 hours a day, but unfortunately, I'm too OCD to nap when my to-do list is hanging over my head. Today I ventured out early to take Mark to work, then went visiting teaching, took Madelyn to preschool, went to the gas station, Medicaid office, the grocery store, picked up Madelyn, went to the credit union to open a savings account for Luke, then back to pick up Mark at work, and then to the auto parts store (he is replacing the axles in his car and it is currently disassembled in the garage). I don't exactly enjoy rushing around like that, so I'm dreading the day when I've got older kids who need to be ferried to a kajillion different activities all the time.
Happily, Luke only had one major clothing change involved while we were out! Today it was poop everywhere at the grocery store. Yesterday, he threw up the contents of his entire bottle all over himself while we were at the dentist. Last Monday, he had two wet diapers leak while we were running errands. That was bad. I may have to start carrying around even more spare outfits for him (and you wonder why you see all those mothers schlepping around 100 lbs. of stuff like a pack mule).
The only other noteworthy thing lately is that my cutie patootie but ill-fated sister Maria and her cutie patootie husband Shay finally got to come up and see the baby. She was going to come up to Cedar (she lives in St. George) the day after Luke was born, but she had a mishap after she had some blood drawn for insurance and passed out, hit her head, got a hefty concussion, and lost some short term memory. Thankfully she is OK (after a lot of vomiting, headaches, and a CAT scan), and so Luke got to meet his Auntie Maria at last.
Friday, October 9, 2009
People/Things that don't care if you've got strep throat and haven't slept in many, many days:
Exhibit A:
* The laundry, which has taken on a life of its own and is threatening to take over the lower right quadrant of the house, the living room sofa, the kitchen sink (soaking several items with spit-up, medicine, and/or poop) and the hampers, which I believe have just exploded
* The dishes--same situation as the laundry, only even more widespread
* Preschool--the show must go on, even if I still have not managed to get dressed by the 12:30 pm drop-off time
* Mark's work/church calling/video game/car repair needs--last week was his week to be on-call, meaning he'd leave for work an hour early to round at the hospital, weekends included. Dr. Newbold was SO NICE and took all the midnight calls for him, though. Thank-you, you sweet, sweet man! But every spare hour I think I'm going to have with Mark gets sucked up by the vortex of church, gaming, fiddling with his car and doing work for my dad in Hurricane. Wah!
* Errands--the Apocalypse could be upon us and you would still find me trying to scramble to the post office and grocery store one more time, and then complain that I still needed to go home to balance the checkbook and go through the mail.
* Etc., etc., etc.
So I got strep throat last Saturday night. The baby was eight days old. No, it was not fair. I had to wait until Monday before I could make it to the Instacare for a strep test, which came back positive, so I got some antibiotics. When I called Mark to tell him, he talked things over with Dr. Newbold about signs of strep to look for in a newborn. One of the things was a peri-rectal rash, and a little light bulb went on in Mark's head. Madelyn had a rash just like that, which she'd had for over two weeks and wasn't responding to other treatments. So off to the clinic we went to get a culture, which sure enough, tested positive for strep also. (Yay!!..SIGH)
Then it was back over to the pharmacy to get her prescription filled, which turned out to be this thick, gloppy, sour smelling stuff that we had to force her to drink twice a day. She'd gag it all over the place, and it also caused her some diarrhea, thus creating more laundry. We were back at the clinic yesterday for Luke's two week checkup, so we begged for a different antibiotic for Madelyn. So far, this one is better, but we're still having to use some hefty bribes to get her to take it. Oh, well.
Our little Luke is doing great! He's fattening up--he'd gained a pound since his three day checkup, so now he's 7 lbs. 3 oz. Dr. Newbold couldn't even hear his heart murmur anymore, so we're all hoping that the holes have already closed up on their own and he won't have any problems from here on out. He even slept right through the heel prick for his PKU screening. What a man! He is so adorable and we're enjoying him so much.

However, things that would ordinarily require one afternoon take me an average of oh, two to three lunar cycles to accomplish now (lunar cycle: 29.5 days). I had forgotten that about having a new baby in the house. It's driving me nuts! And I had some good momentum going that first week until Mr. S. pyogenes came for a visit. I guess the universe had different plans for me. Apparently, no new mother should be allowed that much verve.
Friday, October 2, 2009
Why yes, I do have beautiful children!
Yep. Another post. More pictures. (What were you expecting?) I did a photo shoot this afternoon for Luke's birth announcements. He has these awesome north facing windows in his bedroom that give good lighting, and when Madelyn saw my setup, of course she wanted in on all the action. I think they're both precious, don't you? I can't decide which picture to use for his announcement! Help me decide, please!
Uh, huh
(from weekly newsletter on babycenter.com)
What to put on a birth announcement:
• The birth date.
• The baby's weight.
• The baby's "length." (Yes, this is the same as "height." No, we don't know why it's called "length.")
• Chocolaty smudges from the three full-size candy bars you ate while you were sitting on your little doughnut pillow thingy and addressing envelopes.
• Your own weight is not a conventional addition. Nor is the number of nursing pads you've soaked through in one day, the number of meconium poops the baby had, or the measurement of his fossilized belly-button stump.
• "This is our baby. We're so freaking tired." is not an acceptable message. Be sure to include one or all of the following words: "joy," "blessing," and "miracle."






