A weekend of firsts

Last weekend was a big one for the Owenator. Husband was in the mountains growing a beard and fishing with his dad and brothers, so Owen and I decided to have our own adventure. We joined Grandpa on a very quick trip to Boise (I think we were there a total of 17 hours). It put a lot of "firsts" on Owen's list.

First time out of state! (fyi - I did not take this picture and don't even recall seeing the Welcome sign. Thanks to whoever posted it online!)

First car accident!!! (Gasp!) The construction detour that turned into me stopping for a bathroom break (I know, I know. Spjute's NEVER stop for bathroom breaks! But since we were already off the freeway due to the construction detour I figured it was ok to take advantage. Worst decision ever.) During the TWO minutes I was inside going about my business, the punk driving the silver car backed into my dad while he was parked there (with Owen snoozing in the car seat). Luckily there was no damage to car or people, or this would have been one angry momma!!

First time meeting grandma-great!!!

First time swimming. He loved it!

Hello cuteness!!!

This kid slept THE ENTIRE 4-hour drive home. Not kidding. Remind me when he's older to give him an extra scoop of ice cream for this one.

And this is what husband was doing while we were gone. Hot husband!!

FREEEEEEEDOMMMMM!!!

We. Did. It. Four and half months of not taking Owen out in public. No church. No grocery store. No errands. One of us was always home with Owen. Dan even had to go out of town THREE different times, which meant I was stuck inside (I used ice cream therapy to get me through those trips). And staying quarantined paid off - none of us have been sick since before Owen was born.

Yep - Road Trips ARE Awesome

Even though we were supposed to stay in until June, by Memorial Day weekend we figured enough is enough and we brought Owen out into the world. We didn't start small either - Owen's "coming out party" took place over the weekend at a family reunion down in Zion's National Park. (We're talking 60+ people here.) Talk about stimulation overload to the max - he didn't know what to do with so many new things and faces to look at. My favorite comment from family members as they met him for the first time was, "Oh he is so much cuter in person!" Correct. (Although in my humbly biased opinion, I think he's pretty cute in pictures too!)

The 4.5 hour drive was nothing for this guy. He rocked it!

With Owen's great-grandma. She is an angel.

Hanging out in the "party bus" to avoid the pouring rain.

Chillin with uncle Jon. Bet you couldn't tell that Jon & Dan are brothers. :)

Our first Sunday going to church as a family. I first cried out of relief that we made it!
Then I cried because I so wished Lydia could have been there with us to make our family complete.
Sigh. I'm sure she was there in spirit. :)

Church wore this guy out! Holding a sleeping baby is balm for any soul. Amen.

Perspective is an amazing thing, because normally staying cooped up that long would have drove me crazy (and some days it almost did). But after coming so close to losing Owen, we are just SO GRATEFUL he is alive and healthy, that staying inside for a few months seemed like a small price to pay. BUT - I'm still so grateful we are done that I think I might just jump up and down and do 10 cartwheels. 

Here are some of our favorite pics from the last several weeks, in no particular order (I figured the blog was overdue for some updated Owen pics. Warning - picture overload!)

Raise your hand if you're ready for a nap!

He stretches and smiles like this every morning. How can you NOT be happy with this guy hanging around all day?

If he was strong enough to stand all day, he would. He LOVES this jumper!

Be still my heart. (I seriously have the best job ever.)

Hello!!

With aunt April and cuzins Megan & Sofia.
Can you tell that Sofia is 3 MONTHS younger than Owen?
Me neither. Oh the life of a preemie.

He laughs ALL the time now.

He'll be sending this picture in with his Harvard application.

Flowers

Photo by Lindsey Spjute

In May of the year 2008 I was teaching and renting a house in Salt Lake with a few roommates. I remember on May 9th of that year as I said my prayers before going to bed, I included the welfare and safety of my missionary brother and sister. Several hours later I was startled awake to the sound of my phone ringing. It was my parents. Lindsey had passed out while she was running with her missionary companion in England. They couldn't revive her. She was gone.

The night was still thick with darkness as I raced through the 30 minute drive to be with my family. We sat in the family room in shock. Slowly the rays of the Saturday morning sun crested over the mountain and in through the windows. The long, dark night was over. The sun came out. My mom used to always remind us, no matter how dark the night, to hold on - the sun will ALWAYS rise the next day. She was right.

I don't remember much about that day. I do remember aunt Barb bringing over boxes and boxes of kleenex - not the cheap dollar store kind like Mom always bought, but the soft "this is a pillow for your nose" kind. Bless her. I remember Mom and Dad going crazy inside the house. What do you do when your daughter who was living half way across the world was gone? They felt helpless. Finally Mom stood up and said she couldn't take it anymore. She had planned on planting all her flowers out in the front of the house that day, and she didn't see a reason why she shouldn't get out in the yard.
I joined her outside, and together, on that fateful day before Mother's Day while my dad mowed the lawn, we planted flowers. She taught me some of the tricks about plants Linz had learned through her jobs, and together we dug, planted, and watered for most of the day. There were plenty of interruptions from family, friends, and neighbors - all coming to pay their respects when they heard the news. But by the end of the day the planting was done, and the yard was beautiful and full of vibrant spring colors. An unknown passerby would have no idea of the heartache going on inside a house with such happy and colorful plants decorating its exterior.

The following year, again on the day before Mother's Day, I found myself planting flowers with Mom. Only this time the cancer was eating through her stomach and liver faster than the chemo flowing through her veins could cure it.

The next year I planted those flowers alone.

And so it is that any time I get my fingers in some dirt to weed or to plant, my mind goes back to Mom's flowers. She always made our house and our yard a beautiful place that we were all proud to call home. While each Mother's Day brings an ache for my mom, my sister who left us on mother's day weekend, and my daughter who made me a mother, this year I rejoice in the fact that I am the lucky one. I got to have the most wonderful Mom any girl could ask for, a sister who I used to dance with in our shared bedroom wearing nothing but our little-girl undies, and a beautiful angel daughter who was too pure for this world. Yes, I am the lucky one indeed!

An UNprofessional Photo Shoot

Most teachers roll their eyes at the saying, "those who can't do, teach." But I'm here to tell you that I taught plenty of things I didn't know how to do. For example, the two years I taught at the jr high were spent running the stage crew. At the time, my stage experience was limited to a couple musicals in high school. I had absolutely no idea what I was doing when I was given the assignment. My goal was to stay one day ahead of my students, but often I found myself scrambling for a lesson 5 minutes before the kids showed up (ironically some of those last-minute lessons were some of my best. Go figure.) Somehow I sort of figured out the lighting board, the sound mixer, the curtains, and even some set design. And if I do say so myself, the 2 musicals we pulled off while I was there were a smashing success. (I'll never forget Galinda the good witch and her bubble wand. And figuring out how to make Peter and Wendy fly. Good times.)

My new job at the high school included being the yearbook adviser. Again - I had no clue what I was doing, and faking it in front of high school students isn't quite as easy. What are all yearbooks full of? Pictures. How much photography experience did I have? Absolutely none. Again, I sort of made it work (mostly thanks to my amazing students) and my last yearbook actually won an award (I'm shamelessly proud).

All of this is just to say that I am NOT a photographer. We couldn't take the typical newborn photos while Owen was in the NICU, and since I still can't take him out in public, we were limited to the photography equipment we had at home. Which is none. So I took these with my iPhone - they're not perfect, but since Owen is the subject they are perfect in my eyes. And just fyi - these were taken shortly after we left the NICU - I promise he's much bigger now!

Be still my heart!!

3 Months

It's so wild to think that 1/4 of Owen's first year is behind us. Crazy!! Not only did we hit the 3 month mark but he also finally outgrew his Newborn-sized diapers this weekend. :)  He usually only spits up on me about once a day (I'll take it) and for the most part has kindly stopped going wee wee during diaper changes (that a boy!)

My sista gave me the great idea on how to take some cute monthly photos, and I finally got around to touching up his 1 and 2 month pics.  (He was pretty fidgety for those, and I think my camera was on a weird setting, but we're slowly figuring it out.).

*Quilt made by my amazing aunt Barbara. I'm in love with it (especially the colors!)

*Quilt made by an old family friend. It's so soft and luscious.

*Thanks to Jaime for this adorable print :)

Owen's Baby Blessing

We just came out of an incredible weekend. Saturday and Sunday were spent listening to inspirational talks from our prophet and other church leaders. Sunday was Easter. We didn't do anything traditional for the holiday - I didn't even make deviled eggs this year (gasp!) But Easter is one of my favorite holidays because we get to devote an entire day to celebrating the blessing and gift of eternal life. Because of Him we will be with Lydia again. So amazing. And in the midst of all that, we managed to have Owen's baby blessing. It was a day full of immense gratitude for the miracle that he is and the joy that he has brought into our lives. He is such a good baby and during his "debut" his behavior did not disappoint. :) He was awake and alert and just LOVED being around all his aunts, uncles and cousins (we kept the invite list limited to immediate family to limit his germ exposure - even then I was still a nervous wreck).

Thankfully you can't see the side of Dan's head where I had a "whoops" moment when I cut his hair. :)

The proud Daddy-O. Let it be noted that I had some really cute baby booties for Owen to wear. Totally forgot to put them on. Mom fail.

The Spjute fam. Minus the Ball clan. And we can't wait for Owen's little bestie cousin to be born in (hopefully) a few more days. :)

The Ditto fam. Minus the Sara on her mission in Canada.

The Spjute cousins who were SO excited to see "baby Owen" for the first time. This whole sequester thing is kind of (really) the worst.

And a couple more family photos (minus Lydia of course). The good weather was perfect so we could be outside for the festivities.

This boy knows his Mom (and I kind of love it)!

A very happy UN-birthday

It's hard to believe that my almost two-month-old was due TODAY (March 6th). For his un-birthday gift to me, he decided to spit-up ALL down my back after breakfast this morning. Lovely. (I guess that's what I get for not using a burp rag.) 

I was trying to explain his whole "coming home on oxygen" business to my sister the other day, and she told me I should take pictures because it sounds complicated (it's really not too bad).

One of our first days in the NICU, I saw a couple leaving with their baby. Attached to the baby were cords and intimidating equipment and I could tell they were going home with oxygen. It looked scary. I told myself (and Dan and probably several of the nurses) that I would NOT be taking Owen home on oxygen. Well, I obviously ate those words. It's amazing what 34 days in the NICU can do to you. By his fourth week there, I was so ready to come home that I didn't care at all if the oxygen tank was coming with us.

This is his giant oxygen tank. It weighs over 50 pounds. We were given tubing that is 50-feet long, and thankfully we live in a small apartment because when we're home we can pretty much take him anywhere in our place thanks to the long tube.

That 50-foot tube eventually connects to his cute little face. The flesh-colored "stickers" on his face are to help hold it in place (he hates the oxygen and is constantly pulling at it). The stickers are the worst - they totally irritate his skin and we have to switch them out every couple of days (which he hates).

This is his monitor. The red number is his oxygen percentage and the green number is his pulse. If either number goes out of his "ok" range, it beeps. LOUD. You know the annoying beep your car makes when you don't put your seatbelt on? Multiply that by 1000 and you've got this thing. It doesn't stop beeping until he's back to normal. On one hand, this thing is a paranoid parent's bff. I don't have to wonder whether or not he stops breathing, because this thing will alert me if there is ever a problem, so I have plenty peace of mind when I leave him in his crib at night. On the other hand, it's super annoying because when it goes off, he is usually back into his normal range within 10-20 seconds, and we don't have to do anything other than dive for the silence button to make the beeping stop.

The sensor that is attached to his foot is how the monitor gets its numbers. (There is a red light on the sensor, which is why it looks like his foot is glowing.) If the sensor comes loose at all and can't read his numbers, the monitor beeps at us until its fixed. Again, super annoying because this kid likes to kick it off. The other annoying thing about the monitor is the cord is only about 3 feet long. We don't have the luxury of the 50-foot cord like we do with the oxygen tank. Which means wherever he goes, we have to carry the monitor with us. Having a squirmy newborn AND a monitor in your arms at 3 in the morning when you're trying to heat up a bottle can be a good time. The monitor also has to be plugged in to a power source most of the time (it has a battery, but its short-lived.) So when we need to change his diaper, we have to unplug the power cord from the monitor, and carry both him and the monitor to the changing table.

Oh yeah, and if we have to take him anywhere (which only happens once a week when he goes to the doctor since he's not allowed to be out in public until JUNE), we get to switch out his 50-foot cord for a shorter one and attach it to one of his portable oxygen tanks. I get pity looks from the other moms in the doctors office when they see me carrying a car seat, the oxygen tank, the monitor, and the diaper bag. It's quite the sight. 

But there is a light at the end of the tunnel-he should be completely off oxygen by next week! Taking care of a newborn without a mess of cords and beeps is going to be amazing!!