Traumatic Saturday

My mom called me the other day telling me such horrific news I almost cried. Bailey, my sister Amber's 13 month old baby, was standing by her mom in their bedroom when she began screaming. Thinking she was tired, Amber put her in her bed, but she started acting weird, a really scary type weird. She started rolling around in her bed, she made freaky weird noises, and her eyes began shaking. Amber had a feeling to run back to the place where Bailey was standing by the desk. She looked around and found 8 baby Bark Scorpions, the most deadly scorpions in the United States! Who knows how many times she was bit or stung; these scorpions don't leave marks, but Amber saw that she had stepped on 3. She called her husband who then directed her to call poison control. She was directed by the phone operator to watch for signs of drooling and difficulty breathing. By this time Bailey was shaking uncontrollably, unable to cry, and foaming at the mouth. An ambulance was sent on its way. When they arrived they rushed her inside the vehicle with oxygen. In the midst of all of this trauma, they told Amber she could not ride with her baby in the ambulance. Sobbing, Amber was devastated beyond meens.... what do you meen they would not let her ride? Her baby was dyeing! Luckily, a saint fireman stepped in and let her on, saying he would take the blame if something went wrong and that this baby needed her mother more than anything. They rushed to the hospital not knowing whether Baily was going to live or die. Traumatized, Amber was given paper work asking for permission to treat Bailey using the only drug they had for this type of venom, which also happened to be an experimental anti-venom drug. Experimental drug.... what other choice did Amber have than to let Bailey become the ginnie pig? 5 doses were administered, the most that these administering medical personnel had ever given, but with each dose she became better and better and she survived. I am so grateful that Amber listened to the spirit and found the scorpions. Bailey may not have been here otherwise. Good job Amber. I love you and Bailey so much. You are a great mom.

So What Exactly Do Moms Do All Day?

Before I became a mom I worked full time (and often over-time) in a stressfull position as a night cardiac RN. Before that I worked, went to school full time, and served in a very involved church calling. Before that I was a high school student taking college classes, working, and involved in any clubs, plays, or activities I could jam into my tight schedule. I've been this way my whole life, wanting to achieve much and be successful while at the same time not missing out on anything. So before I became a mom I am guilty to say that I was one of those idiots who wondered what stay-at-home-moms did all day. Before having Callie I worried I would become depressed over "having nothing to do"..... Boy did that thought come back and kick me in the hind end. After having Callie I went through the shock of "Wow I'm not getting any sleep, I'm super emotional, and somehow I am supposed to be functional and take care of a baby and a husband." I quickly learned that the title "Stay-at-Home-Mom" was a little more complicated than feed baby, change baby, put baby to sleep, and then have nothing to do all day. I cried when my mom left me. My mother-in-law came to help afterwards, and then we flew to AZ and had help, but I had no idea how I was going to make it after all of the help was gone. Callie had a hard time napping, I had breast feeding issues, sometimes she would not eat, and then she would become hysterical making the whole deal even rougher. Those first 6 weeks were pretty rough. Well, finally after lots of prayers, the day came and Callie started sleeping longer stretches during the night, and I was able to become more of a human again. My emotions stabilized and I started figuring out Callie's needs and how to address them before she became a hysterical ball of tears.

Now that things have stabilized I am loving this special calling in life. I take care of the people I love the most. Callie is my bud and after we play, or while she sleeps, I am able to take care of house chores and then sometimes have time to develop talents I never had much time to before. I am making better friendships and learning about all of the neat places I have been missing out on. For example, my friend Rebecca Jones recently introduced me to this park called Hawk Island. It is awesome...has a paved running trail, splash pad, lake, fishing, playground, and other fun goodies. So last Saturday I had to take my husband and Callie. Here are the picts below.

Callie inititaly was not a big fan of the water. Of course, being the cruel parents we are, we laughed and put her in even further. She eventually got use to it and seemed pretty okay being the shark as I reenacted a shark attack on Dad.



The Thursday before this, I met up with a whole other group of women at Lake Lansing. Good times.

Below are our friends, Rebecca (holding Peter) on the left and Keely on the right.

I am also trying to learn the art of baby fashion. Below Callie is displaying her lovely hat from Grandma Crandell. Thanks grandma...we need all the hair help we can get!

For the 4th we went to Grand Rapids and had a BBQ with Casey and some people in his ward. Below is a picture of cousin Paige and Callie sporting off their festive 4th of July outfits.

Oh and of course I turned a whopping 24. Man I am getting old. I never imagined my life past 21! Steven took me to Red Robin for my lucky day, fixed my watch, and got me the game Settlers of Catan!

Father's Day

For Father's Day we went with the Melos and my brother's family to Frances park for a BBQ!
It was nice to get out of the house, cook up some steaks, throw a frisbee, and just hang out.

Casey and Tamara drove from Grand Rapids to spend the afternoon with us. We love having family so close!

Little McKenzie sure loved playing Frisbee. We are going to miss the Melos after they move back to AZ in August. :(

So now that Steven is a father I get to brag about him on Father's day. Here are 10 things I just LOVE about Steven:

1: He is soooooooo good looking
2: He is smart and works hard in his school. He made it on the Dean's list this year! Good job Babe!
3: He is the #1 Dad. He is so good with Callie. He will just hold, rock, feed, and talk to her. I love to watch and see how gentle he is with her. Every once in a while I can get him to change a poopy diaper too!
4: He is an fabulous chef.
5: He is so fun to be around.
6: He is very considerate.
7: He is an aweseome example of service.
8: He is very determined.
9: He is very patient.
10: He knows how to be goofy and have a fun time.

We love you Steven!

Pictures with Julie!

Julie Herman is such a sweaty. She offered to take pictures of Callie with her awesome camera. I was so impressed with how well she got Callie to look at the camera and not cry. She did so well with her. I think she should become a professional baby photographer. Here is some of her work.

Life with Callie

Having Callie is so much fun. In the morning we take a bath...

Get nice and lotioned up....

then play dress up! Today we dressed up for pictures at our friend Julie Herrmann's. She was sweet enough to offer her pro flash photographer skills with her fancy shmansy camera. Thanks Julie. I can't wait to see how the picts turn out!

Oh and those cool Bumbo seats that the kids just love, but they are way too expensive for a piece of foam... well we got our little Bumbo off Craig's list for $15. Yay, Craig's list!

Here are some more pictures of our little cutie.

Sam & Lacy in town!

So this weekend we were lucky enough to have Sam and Lacy in town. Sam was nice enough to drive Casey's car here from AZ all by himself! Casey is moving to Grand Rapids for his medical residency. Sam picked Lacy up in Chicago and after visiting there and Nauvoo they joined us here in Lansing. We took them to a beautiful rose garden in a park.

I love my sis-in-law Lacy. Here we are overlooking the Grand River.

One of the flowers even matched Callie's!

Here we are on the park's trail

After the park we hit the capital building and then headed over to MSU's little museum. It was tiny, but I was super surprised about how much stuff they were able to cram inside! Even a few dinosaurs!

Thanks for visiting Sam an Lacy! We loved having you in town. :)