Dylan Quotes - March 2014

"Maybe we can use those avocados to make bwacamole." (3-1-2014)

Sometimes having a 5 year old who reads makes life interesting. While taking a bath, Dylan said, "Why does this soap say, 'Keep out of reach of children'?" If that was a ploy to get out of washing himself, it didn't work. (3-1-2014)

"Look, there is another book called, ' Dr. Meow's Big 'mergency.'" (3-1-14)

Derrick & Dylan were talking about someone having surgery. Derrick told Dylan that the doctors would cut the person open & go in to fix stuff up. Dylan wanted to know how they were going to go in. He assumed "go in" meant the entire doctor was going in, not just his hands & some tools. (3-9-14)

While watching Dora, we learned that Dora says "con permiso" when she needs to get by someone. When I asked Dylan what he thought it meant, he said, "Please get out of the way." Um, kind of, but it would be nice to be a little more polite.

Dylan & I were talking about him growing up. I said, "and now you are a big 5 year old. How did that happen?" He replied, "Because I keep having birthdays." (3-22-14)

"Why did you took your boots off?" - said to a little girl he was playing with at the park (3-26-14)

Dylan Quotes

The other day I told Dylan to go get dressed. He said, "I'll do it as fast as a sandwich!" I don't know how fast a sandwich is, but I'm guessing it's pretty fast?

For dinner the other night we went to Culver's. Dylan said, "I love ice cream. And brother. And God! I love God because he made brother in your belly." When I asked Dylan where he came from (because he was being so silly), he said, "Your belly! And maybe Daddy."

"It's a seesaw! I always stay down & Geekie always says up!" - I think that misses the point of the seesaw...

"Dad, put your hands behind my back..." Dylan wanting Derrick to put his cold hands on his back.

Dylan likes to tell jokes. His current favorite is "How do you make a tissue dance? You put a little boogie in it!" Andrew finds this hilarious. The other day Dylan was telling Andrew the joke. He said, "Andrew, how do you make a tissue dance?" And almost on cue, Andrew sneezed all over him! Guess he knows the answer to that joke now! (January 2014)

Today we were out for a walk & Dylan said, "I like having a mom like you." Um, I think my heart just melted & exploded at the same time. (February 18, 2014)

Andrew - 6 months old!

On November 9th, Andrew turned 6 months old! He was 12 lbs, 15 oz. when he was at the doctor this month. He is solidly in 0-3 month clothing & we think the 3-6's might need to come out soon.

Andrew is adorable & so sweet! He loves to snuggle & smile. He especially loves Dylan. Often I will hear one laugh, then the other laugh, then the first one laugh again. They are so precious together. I am so thankful that they love each other. Having never grown up with close siblings, watching the boys together makes my heart melt. Dylan loves to play with Andrew, bring him things, & talk to him all the time. And Andrew seems to know that Dylan is his buddy. We have told Dylan that he & Andrew will grow up to be best friends & so far that seems to be the case. 

Andrew has started eating foods. He started with baby cereal on November 10th, but it seemed to keep him up at night (he didn't seem like he was in pain...he just didn't want to sleep!). Since then we tried pears on November 12th & he liked them & slept most of the way  through the night!

Upon turning 6 months old, Andrew also decided that he is now a big boy. He had rolled himself from his belly to his back when we were in Iowa in mid October, but now he has started rolling from his back to his belly. The other night he woke up screaming in the middle of the night. This is a regular occurrence, so I groggily got up to make him a bottle. When I came back to our room, he was snuggled up with Derrick, sound asleep. Derrick said, "He's not hungry...he just rolled onto his belly & was MAD about it!" Not only was he on his belly, but he was upside down in his bed. I guess the days of leaving him unattended on the couch are over.

Andrew still loves his paci, but now one of his favorite things to do is to have it in his mouth, then yank it out. He then proceeds to be mad that someone took his paci away. He's a mess.

Andrew is such a sweet blessing to our family & we are excited to watch him grow!

Pregnancy #5

I have been pregnant 5 times. How crazy is that? And it seems that this fifth pregnancy, sadly, will not be resulting in a new baby at our house.

Let's back up a little. Derrick & I used birth control pills right after we got married. I never felt very good when I was on them. When I stopped taking them, I felt better. Even after I was off birth control, it took us a year & a half to get pregnant with Dylan. After he was born, for many reasons, most of which had to do with my body's response to the hormones, we decided that I would not go back on the pill. We used other forms of birth control, but when Dylan was about 6 months old, we both felt led to drop the birth control all together & let God be in control of when & how many children we had. I know that sounds kind of crazy, but I'm not looking for anyone's opinion on that. This decision was between me, Derrick, & God. I am only sharing that info because it is important to the rest of this situation.

After we stopped using birth control, it was almost 2 years before we got pregnant again. That pregnancy ended with what is called a blighted ovum. The pregnancy is real, but a baby never develops. It is just the sac. We were sad, but were thrilled to find out that we were expecting again just a month after that loss. At 10 weeks we went to the doctor & found out that that baby had stopped growing at 8 1/2 weeks. We were both devastated. It took me a long time to recover from that loss, both physically & emotionally. That was spring 2011.

Fast foward 1 1/2 years. In October 2012 we found out we were pregnant with Andrew. After he was born in May 2013, we continued to let God decide about the size and spacing of our family. After the long stretches between pregnancies, we were shocked to find out I was pregnant when Andrew was only 3 months old. We knew things would be hard, but we knew God would see us through.

One of the things I am constantly learning is that we have to trust God, even when things aren't good. Last Sunday I was bleeding, so I went to the ER. Bleeding during a pregnancy is not uncommon & isn't always bad, but I have never bleed during any of my pregnancies, so I figured something was wrong. At the ER they did an ultrasound &, again,  discovered a sac with no baby. The bleeding picked up the next day & has finally slowed to almost a stop.

I guess I say all that to say this. Most likely I am no longer pregnant & this pregnancy was just the sac. I want to address those who will automatically assume that I miscarried because it hadn't been that long since Andrew's delivery. That does not seem to be a factor in these types of miscarriages. The last time I had one it was over a year between pregnancies.

This baby was very much wanted & loved & our hearts hurt from the lost of what we thought was in store for us. We were excited. Now we are coming to terms with the "what next?" We were planning on finding out the gender around Christmas, looking for a bigger apartment in the spring, celebrating a new birth in May. Those things will not be happening as we planned, so we are working to be okay with that.

We are so thankful for the 2 sweet boys God has given us & for him carrying us through every difficult time in our lives. We will continue to trust that God knows when the next time for a new little one is & that he will bless us again when the time is right. Thank you all for your love & support, your phone calls, texts, & Facebook messages. We are so blessed to have so many people who love us! Continue to pray with us as we walk through this time & discover what God has for us.

This is the song we used for Andrew's baby dedication & the new baby announcement. It seems even more appropriate now.

Dylanisms - October 2013

This month has been a good one for Dylanisms. That boy is crazy, but so amazingly sweet. He is always thinking...maybe that's why he comes up with such funny things to say!

- Berbbly - blurry. Example: "This picture I took is all berbbly."
- The other night I had a discussion with Dylan about when he grows up. He wanted to know where he could find a wife. I figured he'd be a little older when we had this conversation, but I told him that he should try to find a wife at church because he should marry a lady who loves Jesus. He then said, "But if no ladies love Jesus, I can't find a wife." I hope he still has his priorities straight when he really starts looking for a wife!
- Dylan then told me that baby brother (Andrew) could live with him & he could feed him formula. Apparently Andrew will be an infant forever.
- Dylan then told me that he is going to grow up to be a pastor & have a lot of kids.

We had quite the talk that night. What a blessing to be able to listen to my 5 year old boy share his heart with me. I worried about having boys, but now I can't imagine anything better. I pray daily that my boys will grow into strong Christian men, but it seems that that is already starting in Dylan. Now I need to start praying for me & Derrick, that we will be available to our boys & willing to hear their hearts, to be there for them & to really listen to them, even when it's been a long day. I am definitely not perfect, but I am so thankful that I did not push Dylan aside that night because I was "busy."

Our pastor & his wife have 6 kids...one day his wife told me, basically, "With that many kids, there is always noise. I have to be intentional about listening to what is being said to me." I have thought about that a lot recently. Intentionally listening to Dylan. Intentionally having lots of face time with Andrew. It's not easy, but I love when sweet moments, like the ones above, emerge from it!

Feeling so thankful for my boys tonight & what a blessing & comfort they are to me! Can't wait to hear what our crazy boy has to say next!

Dylanisms!

We went to the speech therapist before Andrew was born to see of Dylan's speech is as bad as we think it is. Turns out it is. He scored an 89...85 & under automatically qualifies for services. So for right now, we are working at home to correct some of his issues & will reevaluate around his 5th birthday in October. Even though we are working to correct some speech problems, some of his issues are too cute not to share!

Pelano = Piano

Last morning = yesterday

"Dat what I said."

Werk = work

Andrew Clawton = what Dylan tells people his brother's name is. Andrew's middle name is Clayton.

"Does Casey (the dog) go to work?" & then he laughs & laughs. What a goof ball!

"Mama, do you have an ear affection?"

A bonus today: Words that Dylan thinks are compound words.

- Guard in = Garden

- Buy Bowl = Bible

Andrew Clayton's birth

It's been an interesting 2 weeks. Monday 2 weeks ago I was 31 weeks pregnant. Something did not feel right that day. I talked Derrick into staying home & we ran a few errands, re-signed our lease, & spent some time hanging out with Dylan. Derrick probably did some homework. I probably took a nap! That night Derrick had class, so I decided to go to a friend's house. We had dinner, watched The Voice, & just hung out. Part way through the evening I remember mentioning to one of my friends that I had a really bad headache. I assumed I needed some sleep & I would feel better.

That night I went to bed with something that can only be described as a WICKED headache. I tried to sleep, but had really bad sharp pains in my head all night. Needless to say, I did not sleep well & woke up with the same headache I had gone to bed with. Derrick headed off to work & I continued to deal with the headache. Because of my issues with pre-eclampsia with Dylan, I know that headaches that last that long are a bad thing. I eventually texted Derrick to ask his opinion about going in to the doctor. He admitted that the headache probably needed to get checked out, so I scheduled an appointment for that afternoon and off we all went, Dylan included, to the doctor. Of course, I picked the day my doctor was off to get sick - at least he has really great nurse practitioners in his practice. The nurse, then the np took my blood pressure. It was not good either time. I also had protein in my urine. Both of those things are good signs of pre-e. My doctor's office is connected to the hospital. I was wheeled directly from the OB to the labor & delivery triage department.

After sitting in triage for a while, it was apparent that I was not getting released that night. Derrick made arrangements for Dylan to spend the night at our friend Jenny's house (the poor lady didn't realize what she was getting into. She ended up having him for 5 days & nights when all was said & done). They ended up transferring me to the actual labor & delivery area, even though I was not in labor & had no plans of delivering any time soon. They did some tests, monitored the baby, checked my blood pressure, and generally made me crazy all night. The next day Derrick went to work. Jenny brought Dylan up to visit. I hung out really bored. Towards the end of the afternoon my test results came back. That's when things got interesting...

So my doc was working the day after I got admitted. He looked at my blood pressures (which were high, but were better on the meds) & he checked my 24 urine collection test results. He said the protein spillage was not too bad, so I could go home, but that I still needed to come to my appointment the next morning that I had already scheduled. I was so excited. Jenny left Dylan with me & we waited for Derrick to come & get us. The nurse came in & pulled my IV & was getting all my discharge stuff together. Derrick finally got there & we got everything packed up. We were getting ready to walk out to take Dylan to church when the nurse came back in & asked me if I could stay a little longer. Um, no. I have places to be. Apparently "Can you stay a little longer?" wasn't really a question. I was staying longer. I guess that the way the lab gives the results is really confusing. My doc looked at the numbers & thought they were good. The doc that came on after him saw my numbers & realized they were actually really bad. I don't really know all the details of that, but apparently different labs report things differently & it is all really confusing. Standards would probably be really good.

Anyway, I was told that I would be started on magnisum sulfate. I knew that would not be fun. I was on it with Dylan for several days & it is nasty. This time was a little better because I was only on it for 48 hours or so. The thing with the mag is that it is a blessing & a curse. When you are on it, you get lots of sleep. That's the good part. The bad is that you fall asleep a lot. Like in the middle of conversations. Or while the nurse is taking your blood pressure. In the middle of texting family & friends. Just don't plan on staying awake for much because you probably won't. So while it is beneficial for sleeping, it makes it really hard to carry on with normal life when you are asleep 85% of the time.

The next morning we were told it was time. I was wheeled to the OR right about 12:30. It took a lot longer to prep me this time than it did with Dylan. The anesthesiologist had a hard time finding the right spot for my spinal block & ended up sticking me a lot of times. I was kind of a basket case during all that. Once the spinal was in they let Derrick come in. After what felt like a really long time, at 12:56 pm, Andrew Clayton was born. He was 31 weeks, 4 days along. He didn't cry, but he was alert & just taking things in. Once they started messing with him we heard him crying. I don't remember what his APGAR scores were, but I think they were 7 & 8. Derrick was able to cut the cord & go along with him to the NICU while I went to recovery.

Today Andrew is 12 days old. He is doing really well. I am doing okay. I am having a lot more pain in my abdomen than I remember having with Dylan. Maybe I took more pain meds with him? I don't really remember.

As for his name - we really struggled with names. We had a hard time deciding on a name for Dylan & we struggled at least as much this time. I knew I wanted to honor my dad by including his name. My dad was Clayton Lee. Our final 2 names in the running ended up being Nathan Lee & Andrew Clayton. Even after the poor child was born we couldn't decide what to call him. He went at least a full day with no name. The NICU nurse practitioner who was at his delivery said we could name him after her...she's a great lady, but I'm not sure Janet Rae is a good name for a little boy! Eventually it came down to my decision. We ended up naming him Andrew Clayton. Sometimes I still can't decide if that was the right choice, although it's a little late to be changing my mind now!

And now it's late & time for bed. I will be heading to the hospital early in the morning to spend some time with our baby boy. Watch for more Andrew updates to come!