May 29

It was a nice slow holiday weekend for Karen.  She was able to attend all of church Sunday and then got some rest on Monday.  I was on call and ended up getting several hours of work in so it's probably a good thing we weren't able to get away from home.

In the last week James has gone from walking a little bit to walking everywhere.  He hardly crawls any more unless it is a short trip which is the opposite of what he used to do.  Becca is eating better and slept for 6 hours straight the other night.  We reduced her oxygen rate over the weekend after putting a monitor on her for a while and found her oxygen percentage was above 95 at the lower rate.  When we turned it off completely she hovered around 90 but would dip down to 85 for a bit.  She needs to stay well above 90 and we are still hoping she will be off of it by this weekend.

Karen has been taking James outside a lot which he absolutely loves.  Whether he is on the driveway, in the grass or in the dirt, he doesn't care so long as he is outside.  It's a good thing he gets his complexion from his mom otherwise he would be beat red in minutes.

James really likes to be around his little sister.  If she is in the swing he likes to push her or turn the music on.  If she is on the couch he wants to play with her oxygen tube which makes things interesting for Karen.  This week Karen has had James every day except Tuesday morning.  She is doing very well keeping up with the kids.  She bounces back from chemo treatments and seems to have more energy after each time.  She is even going up and down the stairs at home.  Guess that means I need to clean the basement now.

Braden

May 24 (Karen's birthday)

Karen's birthday was today.  Don't ask me how old she is though I can tell you she is three weeks older than me and, on my next birthday, I will be 35.  Her first present was from Becca and, no, it's not what you think.  Becca slept through the night so nobody had to get up to feed and/or change her.  I have been asking Karen what her favorite breakfast is and the only response I could get from her was, "Cold cereal is the only thing that sounds good lately."  It really made it hard for me to fix her breakfast in bed, but somehow I managed it without messing up the kitchen too badly.

We had originally been planning to head out of town for the day but Karen and I thought a three hour car ride each way on a chemo week would not have been the best thing for her.  Instead we stayed home and worked on the house and yard.

Since Karen and I didn't have much of a date night last night we will try movie and ice cream tonight.  Karen said to add brownies (gluten free) since that is as close to a birthday cake as she can get.

Becca is really growing fast.  Here she is in some pajamas that fit her like a tent just a few weeks ago.  Hopefully she will be off of oxygen in time for her baby blessing in just over a week.

Braden

May 19

Karen decided to get her hair cut short this past week.  The doctor has assured us she won't completely lose her hair, that it will only thin a bit.  Well, her hair has been thinning for a while but when James grabbed her hair and came away with a handful of it she made up her mind to keep him from doing it again.

Tomorrow Karen has a chemo treatment just in time for her birthday on Saturday and a possible trip over Memorial Day weekend.  The trip part depends on how well she tolerates the treatment this week.

Becca just keeps growing.  She is holding her head up but is still in the bobble head baby phase as one of my nieces put it.  On Sunday she was flexing her legs and pushing her head up so much that I stood her up.  She held her weight and kept her head mostly steady while I balanced her for a few seconds.

We are planning on the baby blessing on June 1st which should give Karen the most time possible to recover from what she calls her chemo week.

I keep telling Karen she needs to post here but I don't know if she has the time and energy when she thinks about it.  It makes me wonder about what I should really be spending my own time on.  We were talking a while ago and she told me if it came to keeping a clean house or spending time with her kids she was going to choose her kids.  That is something I can totally understand, especially with two great little kids.

Braden

May 14

I will be very glad when Becca no longer has to be on oxygen.  Becca is always moving her head and the oxygen tube loosens up so we have to frequently replace the adhesive strips on her face.  It wouldn't be so bad if the adhesive for the tube didn't lose its stickiness faster than the adhesive for her face.  That means we have to take it off of her, usually with some water, but she does not like it at all.  It was heart breaking how hard she was crying last night when I removed the strips.

Karen was able to go to Relief Society Enrichment last night with her mom.  It is nice to see her get out for a while and be around other people.  She wore a mask to avoid getting sick and will probably do that for a while.

Braden

May 12

Things have been a little busy for Karen and I over the last few days so I haven't posted.  Karen's parents arrived Tuesday night to help out with more baby proofing and some other items in the house.  It is amazing to me how much unpacking and rearranging we still have to do.  Then again we have only been back for two weeks after being gone for more than two months.

James is a funny little kid and loves to randomly growl at me.  Karen and I have both found that if you poke him in the stomach and beep he will laugh and then grab your hand and make you poke him again so he can laugh.

Becca is getting bigger everyday.  She is starting to stay awake for longer periods of time.  James loves to play in the baby papasan chair that Becca sleeps in.  On Saturday I was trying to keep James from jumping in it while his sister was sleeping.  Eventually he turned the chair on so it would play music and vibrate a little.  Just after he did that he looked up and gave me the biggest grin, almost as if he was saying, "See I'm a good big brother."

Sunday Karen decided to brave going to church for an hour since it was Mother's Day.  She was a little worried with her immune system being a suppressed because of the chemo treatments so she wore a mask.  I think she's glad she went since instead of handing out flowers at the end they had Symphony candy bars.

James was having so much fun playing with my phone in church.  He kept holding the button down and activating Siri.  After the tenth beep in the middle of a lesson I turned Siri off, though he kept trying to get the phone to beep.

After church I was half way through making dinner when I realized that Karen had already made some sauce for the lasagna she's been craving and planned to make for Sunday dinner.  When I apologized for ruining her dinner plans she said it was impossible for someone to ruin it by making dinner for her.  Glad she is such a great person and an even better mother.

Braden

May 6

We took Becca and James to my sister's this morning so I could take Karen to her chemo appointment today.  It did take a little longer to pack both of them up than just James.  We're going to have to get used to that.

Karen's appointment and treatment went well though she has lost a little weight since the last treatment.  Probably due to the sinus infection and fever last week.  After the chemo treatment we went to the apartment we had been staying at and finished packing things up.  Hopefully we remembered everything.

On the drive home Karen got a little sleep, unfortunately canyon roads don't allow passengers to sleep well.

Braden

May 5

Karen and I tried splitting up who feeds Becca.  I take the late feeding between 9PM-12AM and she takes the 1-4AM feeding then I take the 4-7AM one.  After the early morning feeding I let Karen sleep and then take James to my sister's.  Hopefully this way Karen will get enough sleep.

Today is the anniversary of our engagement and the only reason I remember that is because Karen used to remind me every year that we were engaged on Cinco de Mayo.  It only took her reminding me for 10 years for it to stick.

Braden

May 4

I went to church with James while Karen and Becca stayed home.  He was good through most of it until the last 45 minutes when he started acting up.  Thankfully one of our neighbors that has two kids was sitting behind me and kept James entertained not to mention supplied with the goldfish crackers.

We took it easy for the rest of the day, so easy in fact that we forgot to Skype with our parents or do much of anything except eat dinner and watch some DVD TV episodes.

Braden

May 2

May 2

I am really grateful for friends and neighbors that are so willing to help out.  Due to a problem at work I wasn't able to telecomute for a good portion of the day.  Because of that Karen had to find a babysitter for James at the last minute.  The bishop's wife (not the Cary Grant movie) took him for the morning and a bit of the afternoon.  There are times when Karen is doing so well that I forget how weak she still is.

My parents arrived to help touch up the paint job in the basement and help me out with a few other projects.  I am trying to get a second bathroom ready for Karen before her next chemo appointment on Tuesday.  The doctor recommended having a dedicated bathroom for her while the drugs are working their way out of her system.  We are trying to avoid any possible exposure to the chemo medications especially for our kids.

Braden

May 3

I am amazed how well James has handled this entire ordeal.  He just keeps going and adapts to whatever happens.  Some things stay the same with him though.  When he's tired he will find one of is crochet blankets, put it up to his face, stick his fingers in his mouth and wait for you to put him in his crib.

Karen and my mom cooked french toast for breakfast so we would have a nice meal before starting on all the projects today.  And yes, you can make gluten free french toast.  We managed to finish up everything on the list and even a few things that weren't on it for today.  The best part is the family room is usable and we now have a second bathroom for Karen to use during her chemo treatments.

We took Becca off of her oxygen for a bit to see how she would do.  She did fine until we started feeding her a bottle.  At that point her level dropped about 8% so we will keep her on it for a while longer.

(Look ma, no tubes!)

Braden

May 1

Becca did well during the night with Karen's mom taking care of her.  Karen slept much better which will hopefully help her out tonight.  Karen's parents left this evening and I really hope she doesn't overdo it.  I have joked with her that if she does do too much I will be forced to break a toe so she has to take it easy.

The company I work for did a community service project today.  It was nice to get out and be physically active not to mention doing something for others.  I had expected Karen's parents to be gone by the time I got home but they were working on baby (James) proofing some drawers in the kitchen.  Shortly after that they started the three hour drive home.

In the middle of all this I turned around to see James just standing in the middle of the floor and not in reach of anything.  He titled his head and twisted his body a little and then sat down.  Good thing the baby proofing is under way because in less than a month he is going to start walking.  At that point we are in for a wild ride.

One of Karen's friends made a little note for us on the front door for visitors for the next few weeks.  Most babies coming out of the NICU have slightly suppressed immune systems.  Because of that the doctors are worried about a lot of visitors coming in and holding or being around Becca.  They even told us to keep her away from other children.  Guess that means Karen or I won't be going to church.  We'll have to work it out but with Karen's immune system being knocked back she may just decide to stay home.

That was something we didn't really worry about with James.  It made me think of all the differences between Becca and James.  Then I found this picture and decided they're very much alike.

Braden

April 30

Karen seemed to be doing much better today.  She still has a fever but it's not as high probably because of the ibuprofen and acetaminophen.  It may also have to do with getting a little more sleep during the night and day.  Karen's mom did Becca's middle of the night feedings last night to give us a break and will be doing the same again tonight.  After that it's back to the hallmark of early parenthood, minor sleep deprivation.

James spent a lot of the day with his grandpa and had some fun.  He finished off a pair of pants today that already had some holes in them.  By the time he was finished one of the legs looked more like some very short cutoffs.  It has been nice to see him liven up over the last few days as he gets used to his parents again.

Braden