We are a Go!

 So here are pictures from Sam's accident finally. The two teeth that came out first. The lower one is the one I had to pull and if you look on the top side, there is a red spot. That is some sort of root growing out the side of the tooth and what was hanging on for dear life. The rest was completely broken.

 This is the picture we took after Mom's pulling. That other big tooth ended up being pulled by the dentist because it was moving and causing little man alot of pain. Oh the adventures with kids!

 And a random picture of Amy I found on the camera. These days her hair is long enough on top that we have to put it up somehow everyday or else she looks like a shaggy dog with her hair in her eyes. It's hard to accept that she will be two in a little over a week!

 And then I guess Robert took the camera to work one day because I found a bunch of pictures of his equipment on the farm. So here is a quick look at the machinery he uses every day.

 This week has been kind of a tough one because Lala (Liliana) is now gone and Daddy has been working the really late hours every day. Just adjusting back to a new normal, I guess.

And on to the reason for the title of this post. Yesterday I met with the OB/GYN that supervises my nurse midwife. It was a rough go of it, but the midwife called me this morning to let me know that he and the other doctors in the practice have agreed to what is called a trial of labor after cesearean (TOLAC). This means as long as everything continues to go smooth and routine, I will be allowed to go in to labor on my own and try for a VBAC (vaginal birth after cesearean). I am so very excited to get this news, especially with how unsupportive the doc was yesterday at the appointment. I can continue to alternate my appointments between the OB's and my midwife and my midwife will be able to be with me when I am laboring at the hospital, but the OB will be the one to deliver, or "catch", the baby. This makes me feel very comfortable with trying for a VBAC even after 2 C-sections because the midwife is trained to recognize early signs of complications and she will be there IN the hospital the entire time, unlike most OB's who rely on the nurses to monitor and let them know if things are not going well. The understanding is if anything goes amiss it is straight to the OR for a C-section, which I am ok with. I just really wanted the option to try is all. So we are a go!

Today we went up to Rexburg and surprised Liliana at her apartment. Thankfully she was there and not studying at the library. That would have been pretty disruptive to try and find her while toting around two little kids. We got some lunch and played at the park in the sunshine and enjoyed catching up with her and how her first week of classes went and how her roommates are. I think she was a bit overwhelmed at first, but will adjust quickly. She is already fitting in to the BYU-Idaho scene with a study date this afternoon with a guy and asked out on a date for tomorrow :)

Where Did We Go?

So sorry to have disappeared for a few weeks!! First off the kids and I all got a virus of some sort that knocked us out for a good week or so. Then Sam had his bike accident (more to come on that). Then our computer crashed. Then our houseguest Liliana moved out. And we are finally back again. So, it has been a busy few weeks. And we have almost no pictures to show for it, either. Soon we will get back on the horse of posting every few days or so - promise!

So we tried to potty train Amy. It lasted about 3 hours before we ran into issues. Tummy issues. Then pink eye later that night. Then cough, fever, runny nose the next day. She went back and forth with subtle signs of illness for a couple days, so I finally took her in to the dr. Turns out it's a virus, which is something you cannot do anything for whatsoever. Great. Next day Sam and I come down with the same stuff. And it lingered for a good week. Not fun. But now we are all feeling better and ready for warm weather to come.

Speaking of warm weather, we have had some. Enough to ride bikes and want for more. On one such afternoon, Sam was turning circles on his bike and crashed. But this was no ordinary crash. When he stood up, his face was dripping blood. It is that awful moment every mother dreads when you know something is bad - really bad. Told him to go inside, dragged Amy and two bikes inside. I start to clean up the blood so I can get an idea of how bad the damage is. I look at his mouth and his teeth are not where they are supposed to be. Bad. Very bad. I call my two best friends on both their home phones and cell phones and of course neither answers either. Ugh. So I call the local dentist (who happens to be a son-in-law of the owner of the company Robert works for, so he knows us) and his office basically tells me there is little they can do for baby teeth that are knocked out. They said I could bring him in, but they would just pull the tooth which they said I could probably do myself. Ok. I try calling all 4 numbers again with no luck, so I grab some tissues like my parents always did when pulling our teeth and of course the darn thing won't budge. Thankfully a nursing friend of mine had just posted on Facebook a few days ago about the many uses of hemastats, so it was fresh on my mind as an option. I dig through my nursing bag and find the sort of clamp tool. I sit down and say a little prayer that I can do this. The combination of late afternoon exhaustion, stress, and the smell of blood he is breathing directly into my face is starting to get to me. I tell him that we both have to be brave and get him ready for me to tug. I finally get the tooth free and we are done. Sam was so tough, he really is a great kid! The one I had to pull was one of the big front teeth and the smaller one next to it I found later out on the road where he crashed.

Two days later he comes upstairs next to tears saying that his tooth was really hurting him. To see him in so much pain just breaks my heart!! So we head over to my friend's house so she can take a look and tell me what she thinks since she works for a dentist. She says it looked like it was starting to die and should probably be pulled. Oh, and that it would be around $200. IF we could find a dentist working on a Friday that is. We stop by the store and call the same dentist on our way home. They told me he was working on his last patient of the day and if I could come right then he could take a look. It was naptime and I had nothing with me to entertain Amy and no one who I could call to come get her. But the people were excellent and Sam was content watching Scooby Doo. All in all, it went well. They pulled the second big tooth. It didn't faze Sam at all and I was able to manage Amy in my lap pretty well. The X-rays showed that his permanent teeth have a ways to go, but they could move in faster since there are no baby teeth to push out. Or, he could develop callouses on the gums from going so long without teeth there and it could take longer. Who knows? And thanks to being friends of the dentist, he didn't charge us for the exam or X-rays and discounted the extraction, so we came away only paying $68, not $200. What a relief!!

This same week our computer crashed. We have no idea why. Amy turned it off and when I tried to turn it back on, it wouldn't work. We asked Uncle Jake to take it to BYU-Idaho to have them take a look and they said the hard drive crashed and that we have lost all of our files, music, and pictures from the last four years or so. Crap. So we bought a new hard drive to get it up and going again, but we kept the old hard drive in hopes that we can find someone who can pull our files and pictures off it still. That would really stink if we have truly lost everything. Good thing I didn't delete my old blog so we still have most of those pictures SOMEWHERE.

Apparantly we need to get our act together and start doing some smarter things. Like get started with dental insurance. And start backing up our files regularly. You know, the simple things you keep saying you will do and never get around to doing. And then stuff like this happens and you smack your head thinking "Why didn't I do that when I had the chance?" Oh well, live and learn.

This last weekend Liliana moved to Rexburg to start school. We are so excited for her in her endeavors and have loved having her in our home. Sam will miss his hide-and-go-seek buddy, Amy her swinging partner, and Mommy her silent, sneaky dish washer. But it will be nice to have our privacy back, too. Afer the first day she sounds excited about her roommates, two have served Spanish-speaking missions, and is relieved she was able to get in to the class she needs to apply for the nursing program.

And now we have finished that big adventure, we get to start thinking about and planning for the next one: the arrival of the next little Skousen!! Mommy is 30 weeks pregnant this week, so we are on the downhill slope! It is still up for debate as to how this little one is coming in to the world; hoping to convince the dr this week to let us try for a VBAC. If not, we may be shopping around for a new doc, who knows? So wish us luck for a calm week and open minds :)

Hopefully pictures (and more posts) to start coming again soon!!

Foolish Day

So yesterday as you all know was April Fools Day. Last year I really got in to the spirit and played tricks on Robert and then a few funny, harmless jokes on the kids. This year Sam really wanted to trick Robert. He calls it "Foolish Day" and was really looking forward to what we had planned for Daddy when he got home that night! The two tricks he wanted to play on Robert were #1: tape the light switch down (I had played this one on him last year and he couldn't stop laughing......once he figured out the joke :)) and #2: He wanted to make this glitter spider to leave on Daddy's bed to scare him when he went to bed that night. That kid laughed so dang hard even though neither one really "tricked" Robert, but he had alot of fun trying. :)

And apparently I am in big trouble for forgetting give an update on Skousen baby #4, so here we go. Tomorrow we are 27 weeks along. Baby kicks lots during the day, definitely a boy this one. Mommy is doing fairly well, although there has been alot of nerve pain which is a normal part of each pregnancy, but seems to start sooner each time. Bleck! As of right now the doctors have told me it is too risky to do a VBAC after 2 C-sections and want to do a scheduled C-section the last week of June, at 39 weeks. I am hoping to speak to the OB/GYN at my next appointment and really push him to tell me why I can't try for a VBAC, because that is really what I want. I have a friend who is studying to become a doula (spelling?) and has asked if she could be a part of my pregnancy and birth, which is kinda cool. I had never considered a doula before because I have a good support system (husband, friends, family, etc). But it has been cool because she and I have been able to speak "nurse" and she has given me some good ideas of how to approach the OB about doing a VBAC and hopefully I can get his side of the story. (Explanation: I switched dr's and am seeing a nurse midwife who is excellent and has tons of experience, but because I am VBAC and she is not licensed to do surgery, she has to consult with the OB/GYN in the office and he is the one who says no) No belly pictures yet; apparently I don't even look pregnant to some people, but believe me, I feel that thing sticking way out and getting in the way majorly when I try to bend over :)

Back to It

Well, here we are with a new blog, trying to get back into the habit of blogging again. I finally decided it would be best to just start a new blog so I don't have to pay for storage space, but I can keep all the old stuff until I can get it printed into books to have and save, then I will go back and delete. So I will play a little catch-up from the last two or three months.

 So here's a picture of Sam's birthday cake from way back in January for those of you who didn't get to see it. I have it admit, it turned out pretty dang awesome. I was a little worried when he asked for a Transformers cake, but like I usually do, I found someone who had already done something that looked great and seemed like something I could do myself. Sam loved it! I didn't have any other good pictures because we had a pinata and a flashing gun toy, but he had a great time!! His biggest present was a big boy bed (finally) and both grandparents contributed blankets for the twin bed, which he LOVES!!

 Just some random pictures of Amy from whenever.

 She loves to stick her fingers in her ears like she can't hear us.

 And is always wrapping herself in some sort of blanket/towel.

 And this is Liliana who has been staying with us for the last month. Her family works for Robert's dad out in Arizona. The United States just passed some laws that made it possible for Liliana to be legal to go to school, drive, etc. So she came up to stay with us for a while before school starts at BYU-Idaho to work for Robert sorting potatoes to earn money for school and we've done our best to help get her set up with school and learning to drive, etc. It has been fun for the kids to have a playmate around and Robert has almost died and gone to heaven with all the authentic Mexican food we've been having. I enjoy having someone to talk to and have learned alot of new cooking skills!!

 I got to teach the all the YW on St. Patrick's Day and had found a yummy looking recipe for Key Lime cupcakes on Pinterest, so decided to go all out and made these scrumptious cupcakes to share. Had nothing to do with the lesson, but it was a ton of fun to do a bit of cake decorating again. The shamrocks are made with a liquid sugar method called Color Flow and it was fun to experiment with it a bit to try out different looks with sprinkles.

 And a catch-up of our life wouldn't be complete without at least one picture of the Potter kids over hanging out with us. They are our regular play buddies and in this picture I was working hard at practicing my tortilla-rolling skills and most of the kids opted for a hot homemade tortilla for a snack instead of graham crackers - score one for this momma!!

 Also this last month was Kaylie's birthday. She would be four years old of she were here with us. It's so hard to imagine it has been so long! We buy a rose for each year that has passed for her birthday and this year we had Jake and Stacey (Robert's younger brother and his wife who are in Rexburg for now) over to help us enjoy a Chocolate Almond cake in remembrance of our sweet Kaylie Bug.

 This last week has been Spring Break, so last Thursday we went with our buddies the Potters to a gym called Flips that does open gym a few times a week for $5/kid. It seemed like alot to me until I saw how much there really was for kids of all ages to do. From the tramps, to the foam pit, to the slides, it was a great place to take the kids and just run and play for two hours. Amy jumping off the long tramp to Aunt Julie in the pit, since there is no way Mommy could possibly get in or out of that thing now! :)

 And happy Sam and Lilly waiting their turn to run down the long tramp.

 Then on Saturday we headed over to the Potter's house to have an Easter egg hunt in the backyard. And even though it is mostly grass, an acre of grass is still plenty to hide 9 eggs for each of the six kids we had searching. It was just the right amount for the older kids, but Amy lost interest before the end. It was short, sweet, and perfect for what we like to do for Easter.

 And last, but not least, our little photo shoot from after church on Sunday of the kids in their Easter outfits. I think Sam looks like such a handsome little boy in his khaki's and blue shirt. He has almost always been in a black suit, so I thought it was time to try something a bit different.

 Amy's dress came from Grandma when she brought Liliana up at the beginning of the month. I tried to make a new hairbow to go with it, but it turned out to be way too big, so she just looked adorable in the stuff she already had :)

 Sam said "Look what I can do!"

 To that Amy said "I can do it bigger and better than you!" :)

 And such is the relationship between these two! Growing up way too fast!!

So that just about sums up our last three months or so. I did forget to mention (and post pictures of) our new mini van!! We bought a 2011 Toyota Sienna in preparation for the next little Skousen arriving sometime around the end of June/beginning of July. We found it in Arizona for a really good price and Robert's mom brought it up to us when she brought Liliana to stay. It has been a dream with plenty of space for Robert and power doors for me. We are all super excited for it to be the new family vehicle. And did I mention it's a wonderful, deep, rich red color? So that's it for now!