My Project...

Is finally complete.

Back when we found out we were pregnant we went crib shopping. We found a cute crib for a great price. At the time I also saw a cute quilt/bumper/crib skirt set that I wanted to buy. Wayne refused. He wouldn't let me spend as much on that stuff as we did the crib itself. I guess I have to agree with his logic. So I kept an eye out for a set that I liked that didn't cost so much, no luck.

A few weeks later a friend Jean sent us this cute cute quilt and I decided to decided to use it as the theme to decorate Kaelyn's room. I liked that it had so many different colors, especially the pink and green combo.

Later I found some cute upholstery fabric that I thought would go wonderfully. And to top it all off I found an old crib bumper at a random yard sale I decided to stop at for 50 cents. I took off the old fabric covering and used the batting as a starting point. Throw it all together and what to you get? My first sewing project in four years. I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out. Just don't look too close, I compare my sewing to a drunk man trying to walk a straight line. It took a couple of all nighters to finish and many pin wounds, but I cut the cost of it all in HALF. My measurements were a little off on the amount of fabric I needed, so I have enough to make some other stuff...let me know if you have any ideas? I've considered curtains but not quite sure about that one.

I'm not the most crafty person, but I would like to be. Its just one of those things that I don't do very much. If I had the choice between a scrap booking party and a volleyball game I choose volleyball. I'm sure when I get to spend more time at home with Kaelyn I'll pick up a few more projects. Next up...Her scrapbook.

The Beginning Stages

The Finished Product

The First Visiting Angel

Our first week at Primary Children's hospital we met a family who's little guy was next to Kaelyn. They are awesome parents, next to their son's bedside all day. We became friends and were so happy for them when they finally got to take their little guy home. One day the mom gave us the Knitted Angel you see laying on Kaelyn's bed along with a story about her, "Reminda, the First Visiting Angel". Here is her story;

"Occasionally in this life we may find ourselves engulfed in challenges or trials that seem to need more angelic help than other times do. One such day was many years ago as a family sat in a hospital waiting room waiting for their father to come out of surgery. Sometimes they just sat, sometimes they held hands, sometimes they closed their eyes and seemed to drift away - if only for a moment. All the while a fellow waiting room patron sat in the corner crocheting. Many hours passed. Someone came into the room and spoke to the crocheting woman and left. She gathered up her things and looked as though she was preparing to leave. Instead, she came over to the waiting family and handed them a faceless angel.

"I want you to have this," she said. "It is to remind you that you always have angels around you - even when you can't see them. When your times are better you can pass this angel on to someone else to remind them that they, too, have angels with them." Then she left.

The mother found great comfort in the reminder. She kept the angel in a visible place in her home and every time she saw it she was reminded of the angels that were there.

Some years later her dear friend was diagnosed with cancer. What to do! What to do! What can you do in a situation like that? So, of course, she made some brownies, grabbed the faceless angel and went for a visit. Then she sat and listened...and listened..and listened.

The brownies were quickly eaten and forgotten but the angel was given a new face that day.

The Visiting Angel went through surgery and chemo and many months of recuperation. You could sometimes see her sitting on the sofa but usually you would find her lying on the pillow on the bed.

Many months later she went to visit another family whose very young father was given only a few short months to live. After that, she went full circle when she came back to her first home for, ironically, surgery, cancer treatment and recovery. Again she lay on the pillow and served as a "Reminda" of the attending angels.

Next Reminda went to visit a home that had experienced significant loss with the death of a family member. She stayed for many months on the back of the chaise lounge where she was a daily and sometimes hourly reminder of the angels that were there.

Months later she went to visit with a family experiencing what seemed to be an insurmountable loss. She was held and touched and did her reminder job very well.

Then she visited with a family that needed comfort following life saving surgery for their daughter, surgery that will help but not cure. Each time she has sat in a different place and given comfort in many different ways. As angels do, she has never asked for anything in return. Each time she has been given away she has allowed the giver to become an angel herself. Reminda has done an excellent job at helping people remember the angels among us."

Now Reminda lays her head on Kaelyn's crib. She is a daily reminder that there are indeed Angels surrounding that little girl. I have felt them near and know they are protecting her and helping us through this journey. When the day comes that we bring Kaelyn home, I will pass the angel on to someone else who needs her to help them get through whatever they may be facing.

Just look at that little squirt, all dressed up and no where to go :)

The Wooden Bowl

I just got this email and I thought it was good enough to pass on. I'll comment after.

"I guarantee you will remember the tale of the Wooden Bowl tomorrow, a week from now, a month from now, a year from now.

A frail old man went to live with his son, daughter-in-law, and four-year-old grandson. The old man's hands trembled, his eyesight was blurred, and his step faltered The family ate together at the table. But the elderly grandfather's shaky hands and failing sight made eating difficult. Peas rolled off his spoon onto the floor. When he grasped the glass, milk spilled on the tablecloth.

The son and daughter-in-law became irritated with the mess. 'We must do something about father,' said the son. 'I've had enough of his spilled milk, noisy eating, and food on the floor.'

So the husband and wife set a small table in the corner. There, Grandfather ate alone while the rest of the family enjoyed dinner. Since Grandfather had broken a dish or two, his food was served in a wooden bowl. When the family glanced in Grandfather's direction, sometimes he had a tear in his eye as he sat alone.

Still, the only words the couple had for him were sharp admonitions when he dropped a fork or spilled food. The four-year-old watched it all in silence.

One evening before supper, the father noticed his son playing with wood scraps on the floor. He asked the child sweetly, 'What are you making?' Just as sweetly, the boy responded, 'Oh, I am making a little bowl for you and Mama to eat your food in when I grow up. ' The four-year-old smiled and went back to work.

The words so struck the parents so that they were speechless. Then tears started to stream down their cheeks. Though no word was spoken, both knew what must be done. That evening the husband took Grandfather's hand and gently led him back to the family table. For the remainder of his days he ate every meal with the family. And for some reason, neither husband nor wife seemed to care any longer when a fork was dropped, milk spilled, or the tablecloth soiled.

On a positive note, I've learned that, no matter what happens, how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow.

I've learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way he/she handles four things: a rainy day, the elderly, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights.

I've learned that making a 'living' is not the same thing as making a 'life..' I've learned that life sometimes gives you a second chance.

I've learned that you shouldn't go through life with a catcher's mitt on both hands.You need to be able to throw something back sometimes.

I've learned that if you pursue happiness, it will elude you But, if you focus on your family, your friends, the needs of others, your work and doing the very best you can, happiness will find you I've learned that whenever I decide something with an open heart, I usually make the right decision.

I've learned that even when I have pains, I don't have to be one.

I've learned that every day, you should reach out and touch someone. People love that human touch -- holding hands, a warm hug, or just a friendly pat on the back. I've learned that I still have a lot to learn."

Jeana says - Its amazing how much our behavior would change if we just took a minute to imagine someone else treating us the way we are treating others in a given moment. Oh what a different world we would be living in. This story reminded me of that today, I'm glad.

George Strait Concert

Kristen's mom, Polly was so nice and gave us her tickets to the George Strait concert. We had a great time! Wayne wore his boots, cowboy shirt and belt buckle, but decided to forgo the had because it was so hot and he didn't want it to stick to his head. I couldn't believe how many people were there, the place was packed. Who knew there were so many George fans here in the valley?

I had never been to Usana Amphitheater before, it was really cool. I have only been to one other concert and it was at Saltair...don't recommend it. It was really loud, cramped and hot, we had to leave early because we just couldn't stand up anymore. I told Wayne if I ever went to another concert I would want to be outside so it wasn't so loud and we could sit on the grass. That's exactly what we got and it was perfect! Great setting and even better music. Wayne's pretty anti-listening to country music, but he was impressed. He said he respected George for playing the guitar while singing and how gracious he was towards his band, he took about five minutes to introduce each of them. It was quite the band, like 11 people and all of them were from either Texas or Nashville. We even got to sit by some of our Taylor/Buxton family for a while until they decided they needed to sit 30 feet closer:)

Yesterday I told Wayne that I bet George has a sweet house/ranch and boy was I right. Here is the aerial view...I also found this article that talked about him. I think that is why I like him so much. He's a real cowboy that sings country music and doesn't seem to get too caught up in the fame of it. He's a great entertainer, but he is still just a country boy from Texas. I'm sure that's why my Grandma liked him so much too, and the fact that he's a great singer with tons of great songs.

Thanks so much Polly & Kristen, we really appreciated it. It was a wonderful way to spend our Friday night. It was cool too because we could see Primary Children's all lit up on the hill, so we could keep an eye on Kaelyn from clear across the valley :)

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4 years...but who's counting?

Last Tuesday was our 4 year anniversary. My how time flies when you're having fun. Its crazy to look back and think about all that we've been able to do in the last four years, and even more exciting to look forward to what the future holds for us.

On Saturday we went back to the place where Wayne proposed to me, we've decided to make a tradition of doing that every year around our anniversary! He proposed to me at the site where the Draper Temple was going to be built and then we went up to the South Mountain Golf course and had dinner at the club house. Its one of the most beautiful views of the valley. If you look at the glass behind us you can see part of it. Then to top the night off I took Wayne to Transformers. He liked it, and I got a great 3 hour nap, I'm telling you if they are going to make the movie theater seats so soft and comfy, then I am going to sleep :) He was okay with me snoozing, but he just said that if I was going to sleep I had to sleep through the whole thing, not just the "best" part like I did in the first Transformers. ha ha. And sleep through it all I did.

Also, I just had to show off my cute toe nails. Dari, a friend from work took me to get a pedicure and I just love them!

Kaelyn's Blog

Wayne started a new blog today for our daughter Kaelyn. This way we can try to keep everyone posted on how she's doing. Feel free to visit often, we'll try to keep it updated day to day.

http://feistykaelyn.blogspot.com/

Happy Fathers Day

Thanks for being the best Dad in the whole wide world. Can't wait till I'm big and get to play with you.

Love Kaelyn

Kaelyn is Here

Well she just couldn't wait any longer, and I'll admit I'm glad shes here, even if its a little earlier than we expected...not that we really expected anything, its been up in the air for quite a while as to how long she could wait. I'm sooo grateful for the past 5 weeks that she's been able to grow and mature inside of me. I woke up Saturday morning with some pretty severe abdominal pain so we came into the hospital about 10:30 a.m. and after trying to figure out what was going on with me and monitoring her, we knew it was time for her to come. They diagnosed me with preclampsia and her blood flow from the placenta was pretty bad, so it was time for her to come for both her and me.

She is a whopping 1 lb 11 oz and 13 inches long. I thought it was pretty cool that she was born on June 13th, I've always loved the number thirteen...I consider it my lucky number, so now I can share it with my daughter. She is sooo tiny and cute. We're able to walk over to the NICU and hangout with her whenever we want. She's so amazing, and so are the amazing people and technology that are taking care of her. Last night I got to hold her while they changed her bedding, which was a real special treat. She is in an isolet so when we go over there we can reach in and touch her. I feel really lucky that I get to see her, people might think its really hard not having her here with me all the time, but I just think that we are lucky because she wasn't technically suppose to be here for a month and a half, so we are getting lots of sneak peaks. Its so nice to have her here, and to not have to wonder if she was going to make it. She is here and in great hands. She came out breathing on her own which is amazing. She is as mature as a 33 week old, just really small. Everyone we talk to at the NICU says she is a "fiesty" one, that is definitely good, she'll need it.

I'm feeling pretty good, they say I was pretty sick with the preclampsia and what not, but I haven't felt too bad. I've been able to get up and walk around today and SHOWER, which is so nice. I know all the prayers that have been said for us are taking care of us. There is no other explaination for it. Thanks so much for all your love and support. Wayne is doing good too, he is such an amazing Dad. He asks lots of questions and has learned a lot about our little girl and what she is doing. He is also taking care of me and sleeping on the couch/chair thing at the hospital. He's been with me and Kaelyn every step of the way. I know I couldn't do this without him, he is the most amazing person I know.

Here are some pictures we've been able to take.

Holding Daddy's hand right after delivery

In all her purple last night. She even has the binkie to match. Her hair is strawberry blonde.

Sporting Daddy's wedding ring.

Next to the Spoon

Click here to see her all of her photos so far