"He who kneels before God, can stand before anything." - Unknown

The Oquirrh Mountain Utah Temple

My daughter is getting to be the age where her prayers are more meaningful and she really thinks about what she is saying.  Last night we were getting ready to eat dinner and dad asked Maya to say the prayer.  We had just talked to her about our plans for the next day (today, Saturday), and one of those plans was mom and dad going to the temple.  In her prayer, she asked that mommy and daddy have a good time doing service at the temple.  It made my heart sing and made my eyes sweat a little bit.  She is growing up so fast and she's always learning gospel principles that we, as her parents, hold so dear to us.

We decided to attend the temple today because we're getting ready to make a big decision with Arthur's work; I'll blog about that later.  

The temple, in the LDS church, is a place where, those that have properly prepared, can go and serve the Lord to feel and be closer to God.  

Click here to find out more.  

We have learned over the past year just how important it is for us to continually strive to put service at the temple as a main priority...if not THE priority.  Going to the temple helps me sluff off all of the woes of the world and really regain my focus on what is important, and these days it is my family and being the best wife and mother I can be.

I love the warm fuzzies I feel while I'm there; I know that to be the Holy Ghost.  I know that I am able to recharge mentally, spiritually, physically, and emotionally...among other things.  The work that goes on there is sacred and allows me to connect with my Father in Heaven and better understand the role He plays in my life.  I'm so grateful for temples.

The Oakland California Temple - this is where Arthur and I were sealed for time and all eternity...that's FOREVER :-)

"Don't let yesterday use up too much of today." - Will Rogers

I've heard you can make a goal when it's not the new year...crazy right?!

That's utter shock on my face.

Well, here I am, at the encouragement of a loved one (one of my favorite loved ones), blogging for the month of November.  I haven't blogged since my third baby was born...he's now almost eight months old; it's been a looooooooong time.  I think I'm hoping that doing this will help me remember the importance of documenting my life and will reignite the desire to put my thoughts and feelings down on 'paper.'

I've been looking for reasons to put down the TV remote and be proactive in my life and I feel this will be great!!

So here it goes...wish me luck and feel free to leave comments with ideas of what to write about. I've got a pretty substantial list but it's 30 days people!! A little help will not be refused.

Jett Christopher

I'm probably setting a record here blogging about this kid so quickly.  My other kids didn't get this kind of treatment...I don't think.  Well, he's here and boy am I glad to be rid of the pregnant belly.  I didn't have a hard pregnancy but I was just to the uncomfortable portion of my time being pregnant and felt I'd helped this baby grow enough :-)!!

The birth story is not long at all so I'll go back a week or so and go from there.  On Monday the fourth, I was having some lower abdominal pain.  I knew it wasn't labor but I didn't know what it was so Arthur and I went into the Labor & Delivery Triage Dept. at the hospital and they assessed and monitored me.  Sure enough, not labor.  They did check to see if I was progressing at all and I was at the typical 38 week three centimeters, 60% effaced, that many women are at for the last month of their pregnancies.  They didn't, however, have an explanation for the discomfort so they just unhooked me and we were on our way.  Wednesday rolled around and I headed to my 38 week appt.  The baby hadn't been moving around as much as he usually did so I mentioned it to my caregiver and she said, "Well now that you've told me that, I'm gonna have to send you up to get monitored." I thought, oh great, here comes the girl that has anxiety (who doesn't really) and thinks something is wrong...again.  So up I went and got all hooked up.  They did notice the low/decreased motions of the baby and about an hour into the monitoring, they had me gulp down a bunch of juice.  20 minutes before they let me go they noticed an increase in movement and were happy with that so they unhooked me and off I was...again. Oh and I was still at a three and 60%.

Now, here comes the morning of the 11th.  I started having mild contractions at around one and they continued every 4-5 minutes for three hours.  So I finally called, cuz I didn't want to be THAT girl again, and they said I should come in.  So we went in around 4:45-5ish and got hooked up and the nurse checked me and said, "I'm sorry hon, but you're closed."  I sat there, a little confused, and thought, WHAT?! I'm closed??!!  Just a few days ago I was at a three.  Well, after a few frustrated tears were shed, I asked her to explain and she did a great job helping me understand what my body was doing.  I wasn't closed, I was just not allowing the baby to move down anywhere.  So, once again, I was unhooked and sent home.  Poor choice of words lady for a hormonal pregnant mom.

Too long?! Well, I'm just getting to the real story.  Wednesday, the 13th, I woke up at 2am and was having contractions.  Nothing too substantial so I thought I just lay for a few minutes and see what happened.  They got painful really fast. I hopped in the shower thinking that maybe the warm water would ease the pain....but, alas, it did not.  At around 3 I went down stairs and Arthur came down and asked what was up.  I told him the contractions were pretty intense, but I was not about to be THAT girl...again.  So, I watched the timing pretty close and when the contractions were about 2 1/2-3 minutes apart I went up and told Arthur.  By this time, I was swaying and doing everything I could to ease the discomfort.  I had no idea what was about to happen.

We got in the car, and I got into the most comfortable position I could, and told Arthur to drive quickly yet cautiously.  We got to the hospital at 4:05am, Arthur did his job, and the L & D Triage nurse came and got me and had me lay in one of the beds and she checked me.  All the while I was having contractions and they'd work around those.  I was so fearful of embarrassment and very concerned she was going to say, "Sorry hon, but you're closed."  It only took half a second for her to start getting other nurses together because I was complete.  WHAT?!! I couldn't believe it.  I was feeling the pressure but I had no idea something like this could happen so fast.  They wheeled me into my room and the doctor said that if she broke my water (yes it was still intact), things would happen really fast.  Sure enough, I wanted to push as soon as that bag of water went everywhere.  She asked me not to push....WHAT?!!!, lots of questioning their judgement ;-)...apparently there was still a little bit of cervix that needed to move with another contraction so I did my darnedest not to push (it felt impossible) and at 4:22am big boy Jett Christopher was laying on my chest and crying those beautiful new baby cries.  He was 8 lbs. 12 oz. and 20 1/2 in. long.  It was such an amazing, emotional, scary, exciting, among other crazy feelings, experience.  Within in a couple of hours I was moved to my recovery room and spent a lot of time getting to know this little guy who had just come and busted his way into this world.

We were released on Thursday the 14th after a 36 hour stay, which was awesome.  At first I felt like I wanted to stay as long as my insurance would let me but after being there the full day and night, I was ready to be home to be with my family, which kept on going while I was gone, and start adjusting as soon as I could.

Maya with her Mama and baby brother.

The new and improved Yuan clan!!

Little Mr. Jett...chubby bunny.

 

We feel so blessed to have this addition to our family and he couldn't fit in more beautifully.  We love him to pieces and Maya and Kade are being the best big sister and brother.  I can see that they want to love on him any chance they get and I love them for feeling that way!!! 

It's a Christmas miracle!!!!

Twice in, what, one week...WOW! I even amaze myself sometimes.

Our little Maya turned four yesterday and the festivities continued into today.

Here she is in her new princess dress that we had to unglue from her body because she wore it for so long.  Now our house is covered in a thin layer of glitter.

She requested a flower cake and this is what I came up with.  I definitely need some more practice in the make-a-cake-other-than-a-9x13 category.  It was fun and Maya was more interested in her gifts anyway so she moved right along.  She asked for a Happy Meal for dinner and to go to the Disney Store.  We did just that and I think she had a great time.  Her face lite up when she was able to pick something out that Mommy and Daddy couldn't say no to.  She had a ball!!

We love her so much even when she's having an off day, or we're having an off day.  She pushes me to my limits sometimes but at the end of the day she's one of the best decisions we've ever made.  Happy birthday sweet girl!!!

Real Quick...

Just wanted to give a quick update on what we've been up to.  Maya and Arthur made a gingerbread house which they both had so much fun doing.  Maya turns four this weekend and she's very excited.  It's fun for us to celebrate because she definitely gets what is going on.  She's a doll and she keeps us on our toes.

Kade got in the pool quite often over the summer and he LOVES the water.  I'm so glad because I was a water baby growing up...I think if I still could spend all day in the pool I would.  He is ginormous and everyday he gets closer to out weighing Maya.  He'll have it done by the time he's 18 months.

Arthur and I spent a weekend in San Francisco with some friends.  I love this city and I always have and probably always will.  We ate good food, walked around a lot, spent a morning on Alcatraz, and the company was awesome.

I'm progressing nicely with my pregnancy.  I've started to feel a little uncomfortable especially since I get heartburn as early as possible while being pregnant.  I'm 26 weeks and we're having a boy.  I'm looking forward to the holidays because I don't have to be terribly cautious about what I eat.  I'll still watch it, but not too closely.

Arthur is working as a manager at a proprietary uniform store for some private schools around the bay area.  It's great to have a job and we're looking forward to what the future holds for us. 

Getting Ready

I thought I'd start out with these adorable mugs so that those following us can't be too mad for taking so long between posts. 

Our little Kade is nine months and in the 99th percentile for everything.  He's over 25 lbs and 30+ inches tall....so a monster.  He crawls all over the place and pulls himself up on everything from the couch to my leg.  Not to mention he is FAST.  We'll set him down in one room and in the blink of an eye he's already in the bathroom or kitchen, the places we don't want him.

Maya is a closet red head....full of fire! Her speech is increasing and getting better everyday.  She always keeps us on our toes.

Arthur is wrapping up his semester and next week he will officially walk across the stage that gives him the right to feel like a graduate!!  Even though he's received his diploma, he feels like this will seal the deal.  We are all so proud of him and are looking forward to the future.

I'm just being me, which means I get to stay home with the kids and enjoy every minute of it...well almost every minute. ;-)

A few days after we celebrate Arthur's graduation, we'll pack up and move back to California to wait out the interview and acceptance process for PA school.  Most of the programs begin in June of next year.  The earliest starts in January and the latest starts in the fall.  It's very exciting and we're anxious to hear in the next couple of months where we'll be headed.

Ummm, no words.

Hopefully people still wonder what we're up to.  So, for those that come to our blog and wonder what the heck is going on with us...I'm sorry it's taken SO long.  Maya is now in high school and Kade is excelling in sumo wrestling.  Hahaha!!! Nah, Maya is three going on too old and Kade is almost six months.  I can't believe how fast time has gone.

The little man! He's a actually not little at all.  He's very, very big.  We'll find out next week just where he is falling in the growth chart.

Sassy pants Maya.  She is a firecracker and we love it. She's wearing the "M" necklace she got from GG Jensen.  She loves to wear it.

We've been busy, busy with Arthur getting ready to graduate.  We found out about a month ago that he could be done with his Bachelor Degree this semester if he customized his cluster.  We thought about it and decided to go for it and then just take some pre-req classes for PA school during the summer.  Now that he has officially finished this semester, we're kinda wondering what we're going to do while we have him around.  It's definitely weird because for the past four and a half years he's been checked into school...completely!!  We've supported him as a family because we knew this is what he should be doing.  It's been very nice having him around!

Next semester he'll be enrolled in two classes and working part-time at the Student Health Center.  We are so blessed to be able to have Arthur continue to work on campus.  They sure do love him over there!!

Let's see, in a nut shell, here's some pictures documenting the last couple of months.

Maya got a hold of a Sharpie and was making herself 'beautiful.'  At least that's what she told me she was doing.  Apparently the floor and the wall needed to be beautiful too! :-)

This dress was mine and ever since Maya has gotten into her princess stage (everything Disney Princess), she feels she needs to wear something fit for a princess.  My mom sent this and thought she'd like it....she LOVES it!!! Thanks mom!!

We took some family pictures about two/three weeks after Kade was born.  A guy in our ward offered to do it so I jumped at it.  This was our first real family photo shoot.  It was really fun.

Here's Big Hair, as Grandpa Jensen likes to call him.  I'm not sure why?! ;-) He's playing in a borrowed exersaucer.  Let me tell you, I LOVE that thing, probably more than he does.  It lets me actually get stuff done.

Our sweet kids. They are such a joy, even when they are testing my patience to the maximus.

I'm going to try really hard to be better about keeping in touch through the blog.  I can't make any promises but I will try. Our family is thriving here and can't wait to start our new adventure.