"You are stronger than you think." - Unknown

Having children is quite an adventure.  For me, just when I think I'm getting the hang of things, something happens that brings me back and makes me realize that this is, and will be, a continued journey and learning process.

My mom and I were just talking about having kids and it made me think of all the many wonderful things I have learned from each of my children. 

From the beginning, Maya has been a bundle of surprise.  She is our little miracle and she continues to amaze me with her strength and her healthy body that, even when it is sick or broken, it heals properly (with time) and she's back to her normal self.  From the beginning she has been described as feisty and she has lived up to that characteristic.

Kade is living proof that this mama could open her heart to more kids.  When Maya was born, the love I felt for her was incredible and so natural.  When I became pregnant with Kade, I didn't understand how I could love another child as much as I love Maya.  Well, silly me, when Kade was born, my heart grew two sizes and he fit right in and we couldn't imagine life without him.  We call him our gentle giant.  He is so sensitive and so kind-hearted that sometimes just looking at him brings tears to my eyes.

Jett certainly is our wild card...he came with plenty of warning, but because of my stubbornness we almost didn't make it to the hospital.  He has been such a joy and getting to know his personality has been such a blessing.  He has penetrating eyes and sometimes I feel he can see into my soul.  

Raising children is a roller coaster.  Sometime I wonder if we're gonna make it to tomorrow and I always tell myself, try again tomorrow.  So, yes Amy, you will make it to tomorrow.  

As we learn and grow from that parent-child relationship, we learn that we are stronger than we think we are.  Those are words to live by.

I love my family and couldn't ask for a better fit; families are like puzzles, sometimes it takes awhile to get the pieces in the right places but once they are placed right, the big picture is beautiful and worth all that hard work.

"A good laugh and a long sleep are the two best cures for anything." - Irish Proverb

It is the end of daylight savings and tonight it got dark at five o'clock.  My brother and I were talking about how we have a love-hate relationship with the darkness during this time of year.  I love it because my kids don't complain about going to bed and I hate it because the natural light is gone so early.  AND we get an extra hour of sleep.  Whoot, whoot!!!

 Today was my sweet nephew's baby blessing and when a baby blessing happens in our family, it means a bunch of families getting together and having a sweet experience and a fun time; lots of laughing.  My brother and sister-in-law threw quite a shindig and I enjoyed every minute of it.  

I made it before midnight.  You're welcome!!!

"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.