Going International- Our Trip to BC

 

 

Trav had the great privilege of being asked to give a Safety speech for a large international conference held in Vancouver, Canada. Since that didn't sound stressful enough, the kids and I decided to join him.

We left on a Friday morning and had no problems getting across the boarder.

We stayed 3 nights at the Weston Bayshore. This hotel was awesome. It was a short walk to Stanley Park and right on the water. As well as having a Starbucks in the lobby. As soon as we arrived we jumped on the beds (doesn't everybody?) and then quickly put clothes way. We were excited to get to the park.

Stanley Park is a outdoor oasis. It covers over 1,000 acres and has some of the most breathtaking views of lush hills, sea, lighthouses, and mountains. Within the park there are several attractions like the Vancouver Aquarium, a water park, several play parks, gift shops, and lots of gorgeous running/biking trails. It feels like a wilderness within a city.

As we walked to the park we were the only ones walking. Kept getting passed up by runners who were going Olympic marathons paces with Nike Model attire. We felt extremely cool with our double stroller, diaper bag, sweat pants and McDonald's diet coke in hand. We walked about a mile in and the kids found a fun place to play.

After hitting up the first play park, we looked ahead and saw the most amazing sight Green, lush, rolling hills of grass and not a person in sight. We all thought the same thing at once ran to the top of the first hill and started rolling down.

As a mother, I felt like this was one of those moments my heart was going to explode. I just love seeing my kids playing outdoors, running free, and laughing together. It was beautiful. Then just like a horror movie I heard Lexie screaming from the top of her lungs. We didn't understand what happened till she showed us her arm and there we saw the damage from her first bee sting. So we somberly ended the first night in the park.

The next day we took the kids to the Vancouver Aquarium. It was crazy expensive to get in but really really awesome if Aquariums are your thing. Maybe I would of enjoyed it more had it not been a Saturday and packed to the max.

That night we walked on the pier near our hotel and found some amazing pizza. We just ate outside and let the kids play in the grass. That's when we saw them doing this and our hearts melted again.

Sunday came and it was the day of Trav's big speech. He delivered his speech to about 500 people and knocked it out of the park. We were all so proud of him. After the speech was over, we got to hang out in the pool together. The kids loved swimming and we heard lots of laughing.

We went for a short drive across the Lions Gate Bridge to see the other side of town. There are some cute shops and markets over there.

Sunday night we walked to another unique little park right in the city. Then wrapped it up with watching Wreck It Ralph on the I-Pad.

Monday morning came we ordered breakfast in bed, went for a swim, and loaded up the Swagger Wagon and headed back to the US.

It was a sweet trip. Much needed after a busy spring for our family. I feel fortunate that we can make memories together while Trav works. I know the day will come when the little ones won't be little and may not want to hang out with us as much. So for now, we will cease the day!





Buisness Road Trip with Daddy

 

The kiddos and I went with Trav for a few days on a business road trip back in March. We figured it would be one last hooray for Lexie and Liam to have worry-free swimming in the hotels, since they were both scheduled to get ear tubes the following week. Not to mention, lots of fun seeing what Daddy does on some of his hotel safety inspections.

Our first stop was the Tri-Cities, where Trav had 3 safety inspections. The kids had fun playing at Howard Amon Park, right on the Columbia River.



 

 Next stop was Spokane. One of our families favorite places. We were all here back in September but the famous wagon slide was closed down. Norah enjoyed her first experience going down the slide with mommy. We stayed at the Red Lion at the Park which is the best place to stay in Spokane. So nice to be walking distance from all the park has to offer and awesome pools. 

After 2 days of 5 safety inspections...it was time to head over to the Idaho border to play at one of our most favorite places. That would be the Triple Play Family Fun Park in Hayden, Idaho. It is a hotel the boasts an indoor water park, bowling alley, go-carts, arcades, climbing walls, and more. We stayed here in May of 2009 (check the blog achieves) when Lexie was still an only child and about 20 months old. We thought we were tired then. Whew- 3 mobile kids at a place like this is exhausting and awesome. If you know our family, we wouldn't want it any other way.

 

Lexie wanted to try out the climbing wall. In her PJ's nonetheless. She did amazing and never ceases to surprise us with how easy new things come to her.

Hugs in the water park for the L-team

Norah rocked her "Joe Dirt" hat on the way home. She was a such a good baby on the trip, smiles and laughing are her thing. Needless to say, she makes a lot of friends on the road. We made it home on St. Patrick's Day...almost time for Spring!

 

Norah's Winter "ONEderland"

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We celebrated the sweetest bonus baby with a Winter "ONE"derland theme. I had fun with this party, given that our other children were Fall babies, saw this idea on Pintrest and went with it. Norah loved every minute of her special party, all the attention and decorations, presents, family, and one amazing cake.

That's right, her Aunt Becci made her the most amazing cake that matched the theme. It felt so nice to celebrate her, she has been such a great and easy baby. Going along with us in what has been a crazy year. Never ceasing to smile and remind me of God's goodness.

 I have been reflecting on those first few days (okay, months) after finding out that we were surprisingly pregnant again. I remember laying awake at night trying to comprehend how I was going to do it. I had visions, more like nightmares, of what life with three kids (four and under) was going to look like. Well, I can tell you my visions were not my reality. As  Tom Petty sings, "Most things I worry about never happen anyway."

 I could write a novel about all the things I have learned in the last year but instead will leave you with this.  Children are a blessing and we believe it now more then ever.

Peaks and Valleys of 2012

2012 was a wild ride for our family. I can think of no other year like it. It wasn't that it was a "bad" year, although there was plenty of sorrow and challenges, there was equally as much to rejoice and smile about. It is only after the great valleys that we can finally appreciate the beauty of the mountain peaks, right? Easy to say when standing on that peak, harder to remember as your stuck in the cruddy Valley. 

The year started out with its biggest blessing, in our little Norah arriving in February. She is a happy, healthy, easy-going, and affectionate baby girl. Her timing was perfect, as we had no idea what was headed our way.

The next couple of months brought major medical concerns. In May, Lexie had a serious infection and her first hospital stay. She did heal completely but we are now very cautious of antibiotics and leary of her getting sick where she might need them. (To read the whole story, read my last blog.)

Travis had ankle reconstruction surgery in early June. Watching him go through that painful experience was heart wrenching.  He was unable to walk (no weight) for several weeks, and then several more on crutches. It was a tough time, as the kids didn't really understand why Daddy all of a sudden couldn't play, wrestle, go to the park, etc. Liam had the hardest time, he was mad that Daddy couldn't be very involved. This made Trav frustrated. Which made me sad! Trav was wiped out from trying to work, recover, rest, and find other ways to spend time with our little people. 

This stretched me in ways that, I'll be honest, I wasn't interested in being stretched. Having a 4yr old, 2 yr and infant was enough and I was very overwhelmed with Trav being out of commission for the majority of the summer. As hard as it was for all of us, God walked us through it. Blessing us with an incredible amount of love and support. We both feel way more compassion for others who are physically hurting and want to use this experience, not waste it in self-pitty, knowing there is plenty of opportunities to encourage others. 

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As Travis began to walk again, in early August, we tried to make up for lost time by catching some baseball games, day trips, and we went to family camp with our church. While there,we received a call that my brother Casey, who is stationed in Flordia, was at LSU with a skull fracture. We weren't sure if he was going to make it, and if he did, what kind of brain activity he would regain. God was so good to let us get the news while camping with our church family, who diligently prayed for Casey's recovery. He spent almost 2 weeks at LSU, has some hearing loss, but has recovered. So much so that he ran a full 26.2 marathon recently.

At the end of August things were beginning to slow down, or so I thought. Trav came home one day and told me he was offered a great job in Lacey and he was going to take it. We had been longing to move back to Olympia for sometime and never thought a job oppertunity would open up like this. It literally fell in Travis's lap. I had mixed feeling since it was almost September, Lexie was excited to be starting a PreK near our house, I felt closer then ever to our friends and church family. I was exhausted from all the events of the summer. We decided to wait on the Lord and pray about moving to Olympia. Trav started his job at the beginning of September and we waited. We didn't have to wait long because God answered a very specific prayer request,we asked Him to provide a rental in a specific neighborhood. He did, and we took that as conformation and moved in mid November. We are adjusting well, love the town, the family close by, and Travs 10 min drive to his office. Lexie goes to PreK at the same Christian school I used to attend. Liam gets lots of play time and is looking forward to starting swimming. Norah smiles more then ever. God continues  and meet our every need....even and do exceddingly and abundently more then we could ask or think (Esphesians 3:20)

Lexie's trip to the hospital

This is a blog that I never wanted to write but for the sake of record keeping I feel led to share our recent medical experiences.

In early May, both Lexie and Liam had ear infections. Lexie had a very bad one. Liam had a double. Both had experienced ear infections before but neither have had the chronic problems that warrant tubes. The doctor put them on Augmentin. The medication seemed to work rapidly and we increased their yogurt intake to help balance the bacteria in the gut. Both kids took the prescribed meds for 10 days. Seemed to do the trick and all was well. For a few days.

 Three days after stopping the meds, Lexie developed diarrhea. It wasn't that alarming at first. Just a couple more trips to the bathroom and a few noticeable abdominal cramps. We figured it was just something she ate and tried to keep her hydrated, rested, and fed her foods that were easy on the tummy. She had no fever, vomiting, or lack of energy. 3 days of it and it started to increase. Lexie wasn't able to handle much without it coming out. Still we were not that concerned until day 4 of diarrhea when she suddenly passed bloody stools. That is when we headed straight for the ER (it was 10pm at night on a Saturday.)
Travis took Lexie down to Good Sam ER. They seemed concerned about food borne illness and the possibility of her small intestine sucked into her colon. Both they took very seriously and told Travis that she would need to be transferred to Tacoma Mary Bridge via ambulance.
My mother-in-law graciously offered to drive me and Norah down, as I was too upset to drive myself. Trav's sister and aunt stayed with Liam.
Lexie was stable and had fallen asleep (thank God) for the ambulance ride. She also slept through the ultrasound and x-rays once we arrived at Mary Bridge. This was a huge blessing, as I am sure she would of been scared and upset. The doctor's were surprised that nothing out of the ordinary showed up on either the ultra-sound or x-rays. It is then that I mentioned she had recently finished the antibiotics for the ear infection. That is when the light bulb went off. They wanted to test her stool for C-Diff which is a shortened name for Clostridium difficile.Clostridium that causes severe  intestinal disease when competing bacteria in the gut have been wiped out, usually by antibiotics. Only problem being that the test could not be run for another day or so because there was no lab worker and it was Memorial Day Weekend. So we were told Lexie was to be admitted.
At this point, Lexie had woken up. She had an IV in. Had no food in her and was asking every nurse that walked in the room to send her back to Buckley. She still seemed strangely perky considering she had blood in her stool and her white blood cell count was elevated to show some infection.Thankfull, we had the IPAD and we were able to watch church online. Our pastor had called and prayed with us over the phone around 4am and prayed during the service as well. Lex loved to hear this! We are so humbled to have such a loving, faithful pastors and church family.
They slowly introduced clear liquids and crackers back into her diet. She was able to handle these alright. Her appetite was good. We kind of felt like as serious as C-Diff sounded it was a bit extreme to be admitted in the hospital. Norah was a peach, didn't make a peep and was so chill the whole time. I wish I could say the same for myself.
Later that day, they ended up discharging us with strict dietary instructions and we were told we should get the lab results the following day. Needless, to say we were never so happy to be headed home to Buckley.
The following day the results came in positive for C-Diff. Ironically, they treat it with more antibiotics, only this time she was also prescribed a pro biotic, and a strict diet.
We were concerned Liam also might have had C-Diff, since he was on the same antibiotic originally and had a few diapers of diarrhea. Got him tested as a precaution and he was negative.
We spent a good 10 days together in the house, taking it easy and letting Lexie recover. As I write this, a little over 2 weeks later, she appears to be completely recovered. So thankful that God healed and protected her. Such a sickening feeling seeing a 4 year old on a stretcher, getting an IV, begging to go home, being put in a hospital bed and being told of all the worst case scenarios. I will forever have a heart for other parents who have sick kids. It is one of those experiences that changes you forever.

                                                          Love that I-PAD, thank you Pops!

"In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."
1 Thessalonians 5:18

Norah's Birth Story- Perfect Timing

Norah Evelyn Brock
February 16th, 5:55pm

8lbs 10oz, 20.5 inches long

Our 3rd baby was due to arrive on February 13th. I had a pretty uneventful pregnancy. I only gained 11lbs thanks to chasing 2 busy kids and keeping up on a bigger house. My doctor did a ultrasound at 36 weeks to check on the baby's size (ironically she was measuring a bit small when it came to my fundal measurements.) The 36 week Ultrasound confirmed that she was anything but small, already a good 7lbs 2oz. The doctor said I would likely NOT be delivering a 9lb plus baby (like Liam was), since babies gain about 1/2 lbs a week from 36 weeks on.

37 weeks

As the weeks went by, I think God prepared me mentally to go late. I did not feel super uncomfy or anxious to have the baby. Maybe it was the fact that my uterus had been so stretched out thanks to Liam's almost 10lbs frame. Maybe it was that I knew once baby #3 came, I would have 3 kids little kids to take care of and it wore me out just thinking of it. Maybe it was that Lexie was early, Liam was on his due date, so this one just had to be late. Maybe I just finally am learning to wait on His timing. Whatever it was, I was pretty happy-go-lucky till my due date arrived.

Then the due date did arrive and I was a bit more anxious to have her. Something about looking at that date that has been highlighted on the calender for so many months. All of the phone calls and texts you receive asking if that baby is here yet. My sweet dad drove up to watch the kiddos while I headed for my 40 week appointment. I was 2cm, 75% effaced. The Dr. stripped my membranes, which helped send me into labor with both Lexie and Liam within 48 hrs. He felt pretty certain he would be seeing me at the hospital within 48 hrs this time too. I drove home excited, thinking that the following day (Valentine's Day) would most likely be when I would be holding my baby in my arms. I walked that night, drank raspberry leaf tea, sat on the birthing ball and had some good contractions but nothing that picked up.

Woke up the next morning with more contractions but nothing too painful. Trav took the day off, in hopes it would be the day. We went to Tacoma Mall to walk some and encourage contractions. Got Lexie a build-a-bear for the first time and had a good laugh making all our family and friends on facebook think we had a newborn born at the mall named "Emily Bear Brock."

Contractions continued but never got strong enough.

Same story for the the next day, February 15th, I sent Trav to work that day. At this point, I was getting frustrated. This is my 3rd baby, shouldn't it be fast? What is up with all these contractions but no hard labor? And can I please punch everyone in the face who keeps calling me and asking if I had the baby yet? Totally joking on that last one ;)

The early morning hours of the February 16th, I finally got some contractions that made me wake up. I took a shower and walked around the house to encourage them. They were consistent but not too strong. They began to get closer together so I called up my parents and Travis called out for the day.

Arrived at the hospital around 11:30am, I was 4cm, they hooked me up to the monitors. The baby's heart rate seemed to worry the nurse. I sent a text message to some family and friends asking that they pray

God is so good. Contractions were just kind of weird, not picking up a lot in intensity but still frequent. We started on Pitocin I had it with Liam and although it was painful, I knew I had lived thru it before. The pitocin helped me rapidly get to 7cm dilated and then the Dr. broke my water. The last hour was hard. The nurses determined that the baby was sunny-side up which explained why she was having such a hard time coming down the birth canal. And why labor had been drawn out and contractions were lasting for days.

Luckily, I didn't have the epidural and was able to move around, helping her to turn just in time for birth. It was very painful and I remember asking about that epidural. The nurse said something along the lines as, "I am really sorry hon, but that won't be happening." I replied back something like, "Then I want to die!!"

I don't remember much at the end but telling them I had to push. They called the dr. in and he told me to breathe thru the next contraction. Me being the obedient patient I am, went ahead and pushed. It only took one more push until we got to see our newest little miracle.

Norah was just amazing. She was very calm. She looked around. She would cry and then stop when she heard our voice. She latched on to nurse right away. And instantly we fell in love with her.

When they weighed her in at 8lbs 10oz, we had to laugh. Perfectly, the average of big sister (7lbs 8oz) and big brother (9lbs 12oz.)

I am so thankful for getting to experience the miracle of birth naturally. Thankful for a healthy baby girl. Thankful for a wonderful nurse. Thankful for my husband who is so supportive during labor. I am thankful that she was able to come on her own time. Thankful for family and friends who made us feel so loved. I am thankful that even though she wasn't planned by us, God knew exactly what we needed and when.

Looking forward to every minute of getting to be her mommy.

Our 25 days of Christmas

At the end of November we started planning out our 25 days of Christmas. I made an advent calender for the kids to open daily with a different Christmas activity for them to do each day. Some days were big surprise things (trips, going out shopping, zoolights) but most were simple, quiet things we did in the home. Proud to say we did it all but not all in order because of some schedule changes. I wanted to take the chance to keep the kids busy this year, knowing that next year Travis and I will be outnumbered. I don't have a picture of everything but hope to blog several of the activities. Here it is:

Dec 1: Decorate the tree
Dec 2: Buy Chocolate advent calender
Dec 3: Daddy's work Christmas party
Dec 4: Christmas craft
Dec 5: Hot cocoa by the Christmas tree
Dec 6: Write Christmas cards
Dec 7: Movie night: Little Drummer Boy
Dec 8: Gather some allowance and donate it to Salvation Army Bucket
Dec 9: Look at lights in Sky Island
Dec 10: Read the true story of Christmas (Luke 2:1-20)
Dec 11: Zoo lights
Dec 12: Fantasy Lights with The Frost's
Dec 13: Birthday Party for Jesus with home school group
Dec 14: Wrap presents
Dec 15: Snowflake Lane
Dec 16: Dinner and Christmas fellowship with The Arnolds
Dec 17: The Nutcracker Play (for Lexie)
Dec 18: Christmas craft/ornament making
Dec 19: Pj's, hot cocoa, and stories by the fire
Dec 20: Make fudge with Daddy
Dec 21: Movie night: Polar Express Movie Night
Dec 22: Last minute shopping with Daddy
Dec 23: Wrap presents, hang stockings
Dec 24: Brock family party, Christmas Eve
Dec 25: Happy Birthday Jesus! Go to Olympia and celebrate with more family!