Tender Moments

I really love how Dawson says "Good Morning baby" every day. It melts my heart that he is so attentive already to the idea of the baby coming. He says now that it's a baby sister. We had an ultra sound and saw only 1 baby-so we decided that Dawson must be telling us there is one more after this one.

We ask Dawson what his sister's name is and he says, "Andee! Andee Stevens" Then we ask, what his brother's name is and he says, "Monte Stevens." It's the cutest thing ever! He will tell the baby, "I love you baby." He will also sing songs to the baby. It's amazing how he is making this pregnancy easier because he sets such a great example to me.

Dawson has also been into looking at the stars. The other night he sat in the doorway and said, "Mom! Dad! It's Jesus!" We went to look outside and Dawson was pointing at a really really bright star (more like a planet). It was SO cute! Tonight he got a blanket and said, "Mom- want to come share the blanket with me?" So I sat with him in the doorway and he held my hand. He kept covering me with the blanket making sure I was warm because I kept telling him I was too cold and wanted to go inside. His reply, " Mom- you'll be fine. Just get in the blankets and you'll be fine. You can't go inside. You need to stay with Dawson." So i stayed and after a little while he started singing songs. He would sing how he wants to grow up and get so big so he can sit in the big chair (which is the recliner- he can't make it stay laid back because he's too small, but it' his favorite chair). He sang about the stars and how they are bright and shiny. He helped me sing "You are my sunshine" but he said he's Dawson not the sun! He is so smart! lol!

Graduation

Yep! I did it! I finally graduated, with a Bachelors in General Studies. I'm so excited to finally be done with school! I can't believe I did it with a child and how sick I've been...some how J.D., Dawson, and I made it. I am very proud because I graduated with a 4.0 GPA for this semester (did I mention I took 19 credits as well)- huge accomplishment for me.

Graduation was so much fun- even with being sick. Almost all of J.D.'s family and mine came to see me walk and receive the most expensive piece of paper I will ever have to buy (aka diploma). We had a BBQ, went swimming, ate at the pizza factory and sizzlers. To be honest, it was just so nice to be around family and spend time with all of them. Dawson was on cloud 9 with cousins to play with. A huge THANK-YOU to everyone who came and made my day more special. It meant so much to me to hear how incredibly LOUD my cheering/support section was when my name got called. :-) lol! It was awesome! 

It's a huge relief to have this chapter of my life closed and I can just stay at home and be sick instead of using all my strength to get to class and make it through a presentation without throwing up....which only happened once... lol! I want to remember how hard it was because I think it will be fun to look back and remember how hard it was and how good it felt to be done. 

My plans now.... hmmm... I hope I start feeling better soon so I can start preschool with Dawson. Right now we are learning how to sing the alphabet and months of the year songs. I want to build food storage shelves and work on that. I also want to put together 72 hour survival kits. I hope this summer we get to go camping a bit, a few lake trips, and go out to see J.D.'s sister and my brother out in the midwest. I also want to make another bucket list with J.D.- which is another awesome blog post I will share soon. So those are my plans and I guess I can compare my list at the end of the summer....

Speaking of that...now that school is over, none of us have school in the fall which means I will end this post by saying

 SUMMER IS ALL YEAR BABY! HECK YA! 

Words of Praise

Lately Dawson has been so kind! He is growing up so much! The other morning he came in and said, "Good morning Dad! Dad.... you're a great dad."

Then later that day he said to me, "Mom, you're a great mom."

He has been so good at saying thank you and please to everything. When we try to help him solve a problem he will say, "YA! That's a great idea! Good idea mom/dad!" "Good job"

He reminds us all the time, "Mom, Dawson is just....Dawson is just so awesome." I'm so glad he has confidence in himself! When others say, "You are just so cute!" Dawson replies, "Yeah" or "Yep"

We just love this little man and how happy he makes us every day! We love you Dawson!

Blessings

I mentioned in the last post that Dawson watched J.D. give me a priesthood blessing. Well- ever since then anytime I tell Dawson I don't feel good and am just laying on the bed trying to keep things down Dawson will immediately give me a hug and say, "It'll be okay mom. Sssshhh" and pat my head or hold my head. It's the sweetest thing ever.

He will then put his hands on my head and say, " And please don't be sick. And please the baby not make you sick anymore. And you feel better and not be sick. Thank you- Amen."

Then he will hold my head again and say, "It'll be okay. You feel better now?"

It just melts my heart that he took so much from watching the power of the priesthood being used in our home. I'm so grateful for it and for J.D. being able to hold it. I couldn't be a more proud mother to learn so much from my son that he as a three year old recognized how important it was watching his dad give a blessing. You wouldn't think a three year old understands, but it's like Dawson just knows what the priesthood is and remembers from before he came down to Earth. He believes in it and it helps me continue to have faith in the priesthood power.

Aside from being the most caring three year old boy, he will come in every morning and tell the baby and I and J.D. "Good morning!" He will tell us if the baby is crying and he will try to make him/her happy. If he forgets to say Good morning, he will remind us later, "Mom- I forgot to tell the baby good morning!" And then he will kiss my tummy and talk to the baby. He is going to be the best big brother ever!

He also helps me when I'm sick. He will bring me water, towels, ice packs, blankets, the remote, or just sit and talk to me. This morning he wrapped a blanket over me and laid down beside me, took my phone away, and said, "So mom- whatch you think? Are you comferble?" We laid there talking about random stuff and he didn't mind just sitting there. It's amazing how he knows what I need and is so GIVING! He takes on taking care of me while J.D. is at work. He truly is special and was definitely sent to J.D. and I for several perfect reasons!

Pregnancy Sickness & Pregnancy Joys

Well... right after we found out we went to Holden for General Conference, soccer games, and just to see family. Sunday as you know was April fools...background first- for Christmas I made J.D.'s parents a craft that shows children, grand children, and on-the-way scoreboard type thing is the best way to explain it. The on-the-way score has been 0 since Chase which was way back in September when he was born. Also, us Stevens' have been AMAZING at having a grandchild born every year for 5 years.

Back to April Fools- J.D. and I knew we could have changed the board, but we wanted to wait til my graduation May 4th- that way we would be further along. So we changed the board and put a little sticky note that said, "Congratulations Loni and Daniel." It was hilarious- no one noticed almost the entire day! When it did get noticed, a lot of us had some questioning looks and didn't know if it was true or not- of course we played along like we didn't know either. Finally someone asked Loni and it turned out to be pretty funny- secretly we wished it were true and they were hiding something as well, but it wasn't. :-( However it was really funny and a good April Fools joke.

The next day is when it all hit- yep, I was super sick! I just kept praying that it wasn't going to get as bad as with Dawson. I tried everything! I'd try eating to see if it wouldn't make me sick- but everything was coming up. J.D. gave me a blessing and it really got me through the night. Dawson was able to see the blessing as well and well... that's another story.

The next morning we headed to the doctor's office to get the pregnancy confirmed and let them know I was sick. The doctor immediately prescribed some anti-nausea pills. We tried them all- and no bueno. It was unsuccessful- things just got worse. I couldn't keep anything down and was just starving- so Monday we called the doctor again and immediately we had to go into the Infusion Clinic to get hydrated and the zofran injection. That night they inserted a Picc line... :-( I was grateful, but since then we've had to go into the IV clinic 2 times every day. One of the visits is about 2 1/2 hours long for the hydration bags to run. It's been pretty hard.

The zofran we are now going to start getting every 4 hours because in between treatments last week I would end up throwing everything up after the zofran wore off- even with the supplemental zofran pill. AND hopefully home therapy starts Monday so we can not have to strain our schedules so much. I am not doing too good right now, but we are in high hopes it's getting better. I look at so many people who look pregnant and just dream about the day this baby comes.

Ending on more pregnancy joys- One thing that doesn't make the IV clinic so bad to sit through is that J.D. and Dawson will come visit me. Today Dawson gets to come by himself for a little bit because J.D. can't get off work in time. Dawson gets so excited to come see me and it makes me feel so good!

And- J.D. has been the most amazing husband picking up my slack. I can't hardly stand for very long without getting sick, so cleaning and cooking are extremely difficult. Loni came to clean my house last week and since then J.D. has been able to handle things. It's been over a week and J.D. continues to clean, cook, play with Dawson, take care of all the finances, go to work, and give me attention. It's amazing! I can't hardly clean, cook, and go to school- somehow he is doing ALL of it and has been so happy. He is one of a kind and I'm am beyond lucky to have him be all mine. :-)

Baby #2 if FINALLY on it's way!

For about 2 weeks Dawson had been telling me that there was a baby in my tummy. We didn't know whether to believe him or not because he had said this before to us, but I either was pregnant and miscarried or I really wasn't pregnant. We will never know, but we just didn't know if we should trust Dawson so we would just say, "Really? Is it 1 baby or 2?" He has always said, "two! We don't think it's two, but we've decided Dawson just really wants more kids to play with so that's why he's saying two."

Needless to say, he was right the whole time about a baby being in my tummy....

On March 29th, J.D., Dawson, and I found out that we were having another baby! How we decided to check if I was pregnant...well I am one whose NEVER been able to count or figure out ovulation or menstration. It's seriously something that has never been anything I've had to worry about. With Dawson, J.D. threw the birth control away and we weren't 'trying,' but whatever happened happened....and Dawson happened a month later. This one... we've been trying since September so you'd think I'd figured it out, but when I thought I had it down I was pregnant...so I never did get to figure out my true cycle... lol!

So on with the story- I had kept telling J.D. I think it had been over a month and I was late. He kept saying, "no, it's one more week." Ya- I was right and he was wrong for once! I decided to secretly take a test that night and watched it appear positive! I was excited- but very very scared that the sickness was on it's way. I yelled for Dawson and told him, "Mommy has a baby in her tummy! Can you go tell dad that your going to be a big brother?" Dawson lit up and ran with the stick to go tell J.D.
Dawson, "DAD! I'm going to be a big brother! There's a baby in mommy's tummy!"
Dad, "Really?"
Dawson showed him the stick and said, "See it says here!"

I came in after Dawson and J.D. was so excited! As you can see in the pictures- it was a great night! (ps- the stick is clean... I realized that may seem kind of weird holding the stick and wondering if we cleaned it and yes we did. haha)
He is absolutely thrilled knowing the baby will be here by Christmas!


Mommy and Dawson- so proud!
We had fun taking this pictures on the kitchen floor- it's like we were just too excited we couldn't hardly stand up. lol! Dawson wouldn't let go of the stick either!

Good job hunners on planting the seed! :-)
The due date is December 2nd- which means this baby was conceived while celebrating our anniversary!

The Adventures of Childhood begin

Dawson has officially began boyhood.... and it started with a broken arm.

After playing in Holden all weekend, about 15 minutes before we were leaving, Dawson was playing downstairs with all the cousins. Somehow- we still are unsure, but he fell racing to get a ball. When we came downstairs, Uncle Parker was holding him and comforting him- it was so cute! We took him upstairs and all he wanted was ice- and he wouldn't use his right arm. The whole way home, and all through the night he wanted ice and just whimpered. We didn't get a lick of sleep because the poor kid was in so much pain.


The next day he did a little better after getting some tylenol in him and wrapping it. That night, I had a huge community presentation and made it home about 8:30. Dawson was just waking up from his nap and was bawling saying his arm hurt. He wouldn't stop crying and we finally decided we'd try to make it to the Insta Care before they closed. We got there 8 minutes before closing time.


The whole way to Insta Care Dawson was crying harder saying,
"I'm scared of the doctor! I don't want to go!"
Me and J.D.: "Why are you scared? The doctor will make your arm not hurt anymore and he'll be so nice."
Dawson: "I'm scared cuz the doctor hits me with a stick!"
We couldn't figure out WHERE he got that except from maybe watching HOUSE the medical doctor show where the doctor hits people with his cane..... that was are only thing we could figure out. haha!

So- Dawson was super scared, but once they semi-casted it as you can see in the next picture, he had relief fall across his face. He FINALLY stopped crying- he hadn't stopped crying about his arm hurting since I had gotten home- It was so SAD!


The Insta Care's X-ray machine was broken so we had to wait until Tuesday to go to the hospital and get it done there. Of course, my hero husband to both Dawson and I took care of this kid for basically every doctor's appointment because I had class. He took him to get his X-ray and comforted him through it all. Apparently they had to straighten Dawson's arm for the X-ray which really hurt Dawson and he started screaming. :-(

We found out at 4:00pm it was definitely fractured and we needed to get a cast. Well- his pediatrician doesn't cast, and the other doctors in his office cast but they don't do elbows. So we had to call an orthopedic surgeon. Through prayer and advice from friends we found one and had the best doctor cast his arm.

Dawson didn't want me to take his picture so he kept closing his eyes- little turkey!

The doctor said 19 out 20 breaks, which are EXTREMELY COMMON in this spot for children, have to get surgery because the bone moves. HOWEVER, Dawson's was the 1 out of 20 where it did NOT move! Thank heavens! Dawson was so GOOD getting his cast on- I actually made it for that part because J.D. and Dawson had to wait an hour in the room. This was because they fit us in since he'd broke it Sunday and it was now Thursday. Little kids bones heal faster, so the doctor said it would and could be bad if we waited any longer. So they made it work and got us in. He has to go back in a week to get another X-ray to make sure the bone still hasn't moved, and if it hasn't then he only has to have it on for 2 more weeks! ONLY 3 1/2 weeks TOTAL! So he will start his summer off without a cast! Usually it's the other way around- so we are definitely blessed!

Dawson cried that night because he couldn't get his thumb out. It was so sad! The only thing that made him happy was the idea that Jori and Carson would come visit. So they did! Dawson was the happiest little boy ever! When I got home from school that night, Dawson and Carson had played for hours without one little fight or argument and they were having the time of their lives. Dawson didn't want Carson to leave and Carson did NOT want to leave Dawson, so they stayed the night and had a sleep over in the front room. It was so CUTE!

Ever since Carson and Jori came, Dawson has been happy and understanding about his arm. He hasn't complained, and is really getting the hang of it. He actually taught us the best way to put on his shirts. He is so smart! It's his right arm, which has let us see he is definitely right handed because he struggles doing things with his left. Things that he never has struggled with before. He has figured out that the best way to shower and take a bath is to put his camp chair in the tub and rest his arm on the arm rest while he plays. This was HIS idea!! Again, he is so smart and never fails to amaze us with how he solves problems.

A HUGE thank you to my hunners! He took care of everything with Dawson and manages to clean the house and cook dinner while I'm finishing up my last weeks of school. He is seriously my hero, and Dawson's. I am so grateful for him, and for Dawson being so strong through all of this.

P.S- Dawson refuses to let anyone even himself color or write their name on his cast. Every time we ask him or try to make it sound fun, he just gets upset and says, "No! You can't! I don't want to." It's so funny cuz you would think any kid would love to color with MARKER on their arm.... not this munchkin- he wants a clean cast. We can't get him to explain why he won't let us either, he just tells us no. Silly kid!