6/17/2015 Kasen is Here!

Kasen finally made his grand debut 1 week over due on June 17, 2015.  Amber was scheduled to go in Wednesday morning to be induced, but she knew from around 2 am that she was already in labor, so he would have been born that day even if she weren't induced.  Everyone is so so excited to have a baby in the family.  I went down Tuesday night and stayed the night at their house, and then went to the hospital around 9 AM to see how things were progressing.  Kyle was keeping updates going out to everyone in groups texts until around 9:30 AM, and then he needed to put the phone down and really give attention to helping Amber.  From that point, every time I got an update from one of the nurses I would relay it to EmmaLee, and she would relay it to the group through texts since my phone would not reply to the group.  They had Amber pushing for about 3 hours straight as he was still quite high in her pelvis.  Then he was positioned kind of posterior (face up) for a little while and they were trying to get him to turn face down.  They had Amber lie on her side through a few contractions and he finally turned.  He was so big though that she was still having a hard time pushing him out.  They finally gave her he option of either an emergency c-section or using the vacuum.  She opted to try the vacuum, so they attached a vacuum suction to the back of his head and she only had to push through a few more contractions and he was born.  He had a big bruised spot on the back of his head that was really tender the rest of the day.  He weighed 9.9 lbs and was 20.5 inches long.  Big strong boy!

6/8/2015 Baby Forsyth

Here is another ultrasound of Jake & Kristi's baby that was taken today. Everything is going well, and in a couple months we'll be able to know the gender. 

Amber & Kyle's baby is due in 2 days.  She is dilated to 4 cm and if she has not had him by Wednesday then her doctor will strip her membranes at that appointment.  The whole pregnancy seemed to fly by until we got to these last couple of weeks, and now time seems to be crawling.

Grand Baby Number 2!

Jake and Kristi had an ultrasound and everything is going great.   Kristi has had some morning sickness, which is to be expected, but nothing she can't handle.  I am so happy for them.  The due date for the baby is December 31, 2015 so it looks like he or she will be a Christmas or New Year baby.

Good News

Jacob called me today to let me know Kristi had passed her test... of course with graduation right around the corner I assumed he meant a test at school, as he intended me to think (the little trickster), but then he followed up with the clarification that she passed her pregnancy test!  Yes they are pregnant again!  She's only a couple of weeks along again, so we are all praying for them to have this one carry.  I'm so happy for them and I'm so happy for the family to once again be able to enjoy the excitement of two babies on the way.

Amber had her latest ultrasound at 31 weeks and Kasen is measuring ahead of schedule, so she is hoping he comes a little early.  I was amazed at the detail they can pick up in ultrasound pictures these days... look at that cute little face!

Progress

I am not very good at making timely updates, but here goes.

So out of the joyous news of my first entry, things unfortunately did not work out on all fronts. A couple of weeks later when we were all in the Temple for EmmaLee taking out her endowments Jacob let me know that Kristi had miscarried.  I was so heartbroken, not only for their personal loss, but for the loss to the hopes of the family to have two grand babies so close together.  I cried and I worried how the fact that Amber was carrying a baby would impact Jake & Kristi's recovery from their loss.

The doctor says everything is fine for Kristi to try again immediately, but there has been no new announcement yet. I worried about how Kristi would do since she has really never had any serious trials in her life and I have to say that she has done amazingly well, or at least appears so. I am sure she and Jake have mourned in private more than we know, but she has been very optimistic and even offered to plan Amber's baby shower. Still, it's difficult not to tear up at the thought of how painful this must be for them.  A parent never wants to see their child in pain, and it's even worse when you can do nothing to help ease it.  Some things just take time to work through.

We spent December doing a hasty preparation for getting EmmaLee off on her mission.  We had a wonderful farewell breakfast the morning of Dec 28th and then dropped her off at the MTC on the 31st. Her first letters hinted at some surprise at adjusting to the MTC, and then all of a sudden we got a call a week later that she was coming home.  After some episodes of anxiety, an emotional roller coaster, and some prayerful consideration with leaders at the MTC, EmmaLee's sense of where she needed to be was no longer on a mission.  She was kind of lost as to where she was going to go next but has now gotten back on at Vivent Solar full-time and will be moving into an apartment in May.  She will also start back in school this fall, but she will take school a little slower than when she first started as I think that was a little overwhelming too. She has always enjoyed working at Vivent though, so I believe that is a very good option for her to be focusing her energies on right now.

As for Amber, she and Kyle have had their own set of trials in spite of everything going well with the pregnancy.  They finally sold their home in January and moved into a new apartment in Cedar City, but they have continued having to live apart as Amber finishes school.  Her classes are on Kyle's days off, so even when she goes to Cedar City he spends a lot of the time working.  She has also had a lot of discomfort with her pregnancy from morning sickness, to abdominal cramping every evening, to heartburn, to aching joints.  She will graduate at the beginning of May, so I am hoping she can just spend her last month of pregnancy enjoying being with her husband full time, relaxing, and just being able to enjoy getting ready for her little son, Kasen.  The time seems to be flying by so fast.  We'll have a new bundle of joy in the family before we know it.

My take away from the events of the last several months reminds me of some recent posts on facebook about happiness and a quote by Gordon B. Hinkley:

“Anyone who imagines that bliss is normal is going to waste a lot of time running around shouting that he’s been robbed. The fact is that most putts don’t drop, most beef is tough, most children grow up to just be people, most successful marriages require a high degree of mutual toleration, most jobs are more often dull than otherwise. The trick is to thank the Lord for letting you have the ride.”

11/23/2014 - Day 1

Amber's Baby

This blog is mostly for my grand kids.  I have not really kept a journal for years, as I have been using emails and other digital sources to record the happenings in my life, but I want a place to record my thoughts and interactions specific to my grand kids, and what better time to start than with the announcement of my first grand babies! 

Sunday, November 23, 2014 was a big day.  It was the culmination of reveals for three big secrets in the family.  One of those days that ranked as a 10 on the scale.

EmmaLee:
The longest held secret was EmmaLee's.  She had been planning for weeks and was unsure how it would all come together, but in August she had decided that she wanted to go on a mission. She had decided in the previous year that she would not go on a mission, so the family was resigned to accept her decision and support her in her education goals.  Then, right about the time she met with the Bishop to discuss starting the process, she was asked out on a date by a young man from Utah State named Jacob Smith and they had been growing increasingly closer, so the rumor flying was that an engagement was imminent. Her first plan was to have the call in soon enough to announce for Amber's birthday in September, but hangups in the process delayed that option.  Then she was hopeful to announce early enough that she would be able to take out her endowments and attend Dakota's and Natasha's wedding in October, but again there were delays in the process.  So as we headed in to November and knew for sure that the call was coming we had to decide on how to get the whole family together ahead of Thanksgiving.  Jake & Kristi had indicated that they would be tied down up north pretty much until Thanksgiving with school projects and the soonest they would be down would be for a Thanksgiving dinner at my house on Monday the 24th. (I had decided to have it on that day to accommodate Kyle's work schedule).  Amber to the rescue!  Amber called me to ask if I would be offended if we changed up the Monday dinner a bit as Kyle wanted to fit as many family visits in as possible on his few days off, and it would be much easier if I and Jeff's family would be willing to coordinate on a family dinner together at Amber's place.  I was more than willing to accommodate that, mostly because I am flexible that way, but also because it solved EmmaLee's problem.  Jeff had already told the family that he was calling a family council for an important announcement, so the next logical step was to get Amber to move the dinner to Jeff's house.  Jeff's announcement sent even more rumors circulating through the family... "What is Dad's big announcement?"  "Is he getting an important calling?" (i.e. more important than his current 2nd counselor in the Bishopric calling?)  "Is someone sick? " "Are they moving?"

So on the big day, EVERYONE showed up on time, which is amazing in itself because we usually always have someone we are waiting for.  In the last few minutes of arrival time more people started showing up... the Bishopric was there, which substantiated the rumor that maybe Jeff was being called as the Bishop... then EmmaLee's best friend showed up (who also happens to be Ben's ex-girlfriend), so Kristi was like, "Why is Marie here?" I already had my mom on the phone so Amber was wondering why I would be calling people for her Dad's announcement... everyone was thoroughly confused.  Jeff got the show going fairly quickly by asking for a word of prayer, and as quick as the prayer was over he just said, "Ok, hit it Emma".

EmmaLee grabbed an envelope out of Jake's back pack (her boyfriend Jake) and as she ripped it open you could see Kristi behind her gasping and putting her hands over her mouth as she realized what the envelope was. She got "Dear Sister Forsyth" out before she started to cry, and continued to read.... "You are hereby called to serve as a missionary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. You are assigned to labor in the Michigan Lansing Mission.... you will report to the MTC on December 31st".  There was a huge gasp when the date of her departure was announced.  So much sooner than any of us expected since all of her siblings had a few months to prepare.  We only have a few weeks to prepare.  Jake Smith took that part kind of hard when he realized he only has a few weeks left with her.  He's a good kid... I hope he is still around when she gets home.  Amber was crying... Stephanie's mouth was hanging open (she had already told her Young Women's class that Jeff was going to be the Bishop!)  The Bishop started laughing and pointing at everyone who had voiced ideas about the announcement "Got you! Got you!".  G'pa and G'ma Forsyth were the only ones who had accurately guessed what the announcement was going to be.

Jacob:
So all of that excitement had started to dwindle and the extra guests had left, and we were just getting sat down to eat when Annette decided she wanted Ben to take a picture of the family at the table. As he was about to take the picture Jake (Forsyth) said, "OK on the count of three say 'Kristi's pregnant'". WHAT?  What did you say?  Serious?  I was at the other table and we did not hear what he said, so it took a few seconds for the words to circulate and the excitement to build and we went through another euphoric moment to grasp that a grand baby is on the way!!  Woo hoo!  And they timed it to be after I turn 50, as I have always requested ... lol  Her due date is July 22nd, but they asked us not to share any information on social media yet as she wants to wait until she is farther along.  Wow!  I am going to be a grandma!

Amber:
I looked over at Amber and I was kind of worried that she would be bummed as I was pretty sure she and Kyle were planning to start a family and that she would want to be the first one to have a baby.  Well not to worry, because about 15 minutes later Amber handed some cards to Annette and I, and as we opened them the excitement just doubled over to see that Amber and Kyle were also expecting a baby!!  Due June 10th (a couple weeks shy of my 50th birthday!)  So Amber will have the first grand baby after all. Jake commented that it sounded like we were more excited for Amber's announcement than we were for theirs... that wasn't it at all... it was the news of TWO babies that raised the level of excitement.  Enough for both Annette and I to be able to hold a baby at the family gatherings.. lol

I am so excited... two grand babies within 2 months... our family needs babies.  The only other babies we have had are Natasha's, and they now live in Kuwait. So now the pieces started to fit together about why Amber & Kyle wanted everyone together, and why Jacob & Kristi were so willing to come down before school broke for the Thanksgiving break... everyone had secret reveals ready to surprise the family!  Amber had an ultrasound to show the family, so I have attached a picture of my first grand baby as well as pictures and a video of EmmaLee's announcement.  Kristi's first doctor appointment is December 2nd, so hopefully it won't be too long before I have a picture of their baby too.

Yes, today was a good day :)

I have long thought about the kind of grandma I want to be and I definitely want to be as involved as possible in my grand kids' lives. I think Jeff's parents have been an excellent example of grandparents who are involved and supportive of their kids and grand kids.  For many years I have wanted to be married, but now as I approach this part of my life I think I am glad that I am not.  Ever since my dad died my mom has been very limited in how much time she could spend with her kids and grand kids because of her spouses.  I do not want a spouse who may interfere with or in any way discourage my ability to give time to my kids and grand kids. I want to be at their birthdays, their school plays, and be able to let them do sleepovers at grandmas house. I had a co-worker years ago who said that once a month they hosted a sleepover for all the grand kids so that the parents could have a date night... I thought that was an awesome idea.  And once I have my little farm up and running they can know the experience of going to grandmas and seeing/helping with the farm!

EmmaLee and Jake Smith