ZUPER

Buca was just as happy to get out of the house and into fresh air as I was.

Kevin's dad, El Cid loves to say "Oh! Super!" It's funny. That really has nothing to do with this post. I just thought it was funny considering the title - Zuper!

Last week I hit up the zoo with D and it was the much needed day I had anticipated. After weeks of packing, stressing, obsessing, moving, worrying, and feeling like a shut in... I braved a day out on the town with the kids. Ahh, my "normal" life is back. The weather was insanely perfect and Buca behaved as perfectly as the weather... almost. It's worth mentioning because throughout all the above list of items that have wreaked havoc on my life, they've also created a bit of a monster in my two year old. A 2 year old monster who's life got flipped upside down with the arrival of her new brudda, then moving to a new house and then being pent up while we survived all of Rider's tests. Can you blame her? Nope.

Any-who. We rocked out the zoo and it was so great to get fresh air, fabulous convo with D, and watch the girls in their bliss.

Jayne runs everywhere. It was awesome. Layla lallygags. Not so awesome. I find myself worthlessly saying "chop chop! let's go faster layla" all day long and she completely ignores it.

The girls found this spot and were pretending to ride the horsey. Totally not a set up. Too cute.

my very own little monkey

LUCKY - LUCKY - LUCKY

My 10,950'th day on this earth was one of the best day's ever. It's one to go down in the books. I turned 30. An age I'd always thought I'd dread, but when the day arrived I hardly an ounce of apprehension. 

Kday went for an early morning ride which left me home with my beautiful babies. And the good Lord upstairs must have known how to make me happiest by getting both kids to sleep until 9am. Rider snuggled in the bed with me until the sound of Layla's darling voice singing songs rang in my ears and awoke me. 

We ate waffles and eggs for breakfast despite Layla's request for birthday cake. I told her to be patient and there would be more cake than she could ever imagine. 

Kday came home and coordinated a hike to our favorite place on earth. 

Snowbasin.

The whole family came and it was spectacular.

we collected various red and yellow leaves to make a collage tomorrow

At one point of the hike Kevin, Layla and Kashi were a few minutes behind me on the trail. It gave me the opportunity for a quiet moment of self reflection as well as a time for gratitude toward God.

When hiking it's always the natural instinct to look at the trail, but yesterday I decided to look up. The trees were sensational and breathtaking. There was beauty all around. I realized just how lucky I am and how absolutely beautiful my life is. 

I am so blessed.

We happened to run into some friends and while they were out on a ride we decided to pimp their ride. 

On the way home from our hike Kday told me he had a 2 hour surprise maternity spa treatment for me scheduled. 

I cried. It was so thoughtful of him and I felt so lucky for the third time that day. 

I scurried off to the spa for what was an amazing maternity massage, momma belly treatment and sore feet exfoliant and circulation fix. It was super yummy and I kept telling the spa therapist how lucky I am to have such a wonderful husband. 

She agreed.

Upon exiting the spa, I was greeted by Kday who gifted me with a small package and envelope. 

His gift was a Nashelle necklace I've been eyeing for over 3 years. 

It has two charms on it with the initials R & L on the pendants for Rider and Layla... and I love it.

My favorite part about it is that throughout the day it jingles lightly as the charms bump together and it's a reminder of my little baby blessings.

The card told me to get ready for yet another surprise that tops all surprises! 

 A surprise party of a lifetime at Bo0ndocks with friends and family.

A birthday cake with my nickname on it. Kday thought of every last detail to make this day special

Unfortunately we don't have picture proof of all the fabulous friends who came because the chaotic fun ensued as we celebrated late into the night with pizza and prizes.

This is Miss Mary... my mom. Isn't she fabulous

Kday, my brother and my dad duked it out on the slick track.

Just after my parents took Rider home for bed, we decided to spend through our arcade money. Remember how my horoscope a few weeks ago said my luck wouldn't be great at the arcade?

Well.... again, it was my lucky day today! 

I won THE JACKPOT on one of the games and it started spiting out over 548 tickets!

A crowd ensued as we waited for the tickets to stop spilling out of the machine.

It was super awesome. 

I think it's a sign of more good things to come.

BIG WINNER BIG WINNER!!!!

 We ended the night with a little roller ball and decided we were pooped out and ready for bed around 9 pm.

 All in all, as much as my day was awesome and full of surprises which I love... I realized just what an amazing life I have. I am surrounded by friends and family that love me, they love me despite my craziness. I've hit the real jackpot with my family.

My husband is my best friend and he takes much better care of me than I deserve. I can survive anything in this lifetime with him by my side. 

I have a daughter who despite having multiple 2 year old meltdowns a day, brings me more butterflies in my stomach each day than I can count. She is the most precious gift that lights up my life and makes my heart tickle when I see her smile. 

My newest and dearest son who also makes my heart tingle. His eyes are a gateway to heaven's angels and I can't get enough of him. His smile is as though he knows something that he can't wait to share with the world to make it a better place. He is perfection swaddled in a blanket as he breathes in my ear late at night after his feeding. I can't get enough of the sounds of his breath and the sweet smell of spit up.

And the baby bump that is growing more and more ginormous each day. I'm trying not to care that my pregnancy is making me fat. Because the sweet reminder kicks from within are enough to make it all worth the ten million miles I'll have to run and the ten million calories I'll have to cut to get my body back. He is already telling me how much he loves me with is daily flips and nudges. I can't wait to meet him and hear him take his first breath. I wonder what he'll look like and how he'll differ from his brother and sister. He is an absolute miracle and I love being pregnant with him, every single minute.

There... that's the real jackpot in life.

And so 30 begins a new decade of fabulousness and journeys that I'm eager to pursue.

And I will find more and more SDAY... I'm starting to like what I've found.

30 ROCKED

Today was perfection. Best birthday ever. If this is how the 30's are going to be... then sayonara 20's cuz the 30's are here to stay and so far they've rocked my world.
Deets to follow - but for now here's a little teaser list:
*9 am
*Beauty all around
*Red and yellow
*Inner findings
*2 hour surprise
*R&L
*And another surprise that tops all surprises
*JACKPOT 548
*And the real jackpot

It's been a long and incredible day of love, laughter and beauty. I'm tired. I must be getting old. See you tomorrow.

BENIGN-

Rider sleeping on my lap during his EEG test

He had 20 electrodes glued to his little head... all reading his brain activity

BNSM- Benign Neonatal Sleep Myoclonus in Infants was the diagnosis the red headed neurologist at Primary Children's wrote down for me. After the EEG results were reviewed and a 30 minute meeting with the knowledgeable doctor I felt confident in the good results. He said that Rider's episodes showed no seizure or epileptic signals on the EEG and that his neurological exam came out clean.  He proceeded to explain that Rider's "immature" brain was the culprit of his twitching episodes. I shuttered a little when he said "immature" because it sounded so negative, but he assured me that since Rider is developing normally on all other levels of measure, it was nothing to worry about. Basically from what I can understand from the explanation is that Rider's brain is mildly underdeveloped and it's having a hard time disconnecting the brain signals to the muscles during deep sleep. When an adult begins to fall asleep our brain "disconnects" the signal routed to the muscles that tell our body to move on a continual basis. It's that feeling we sometimes get when one is about to fall asleep and all of a sudden we jerk as though we almost fell off the bed. That's a misfire in the disconnect. Rider is repeatedly misfiring and not making a complete disconnection of the signals. It's something he should outgrow within his first year and as long as he's developing normally on all other fronts, he's perfectly fine!
Thank you doctor for listening to a mom who knew something wasn't quiet right and had a "mother's intuition." Thank you for taking my concerns seriously and following up in such a thorough manner. And thank you Primary Children's out patient clinic for being so kind and knowlegable. I still have a few questions for the neurologist that I didn't think to ask during the appointment, but overall I can rest assure that Rider happy and healthy.

After the electrodes were scrubbed off his head he wasn't quiet sure what to think about all that had happened to him over the past 48 hours. Poor guy. Hopefully he didn't lose too much of that gorgeous hair!

P.S. I turn 30 tomorrow - Yikes. That's so grown up... and I'm so not a grown up.

MY ANCHOR

 Before Layla was born, while we waited and dreamt of her arrival and wondered about the day we would meet her, we listened to a specific song. It was a song I came across randomly and it capture the every essence of what I believed the day we would meet her would be like. Kday and I would listen to her song during special events like the day we met her birth mom or on our way to the hospital. It described the specatacularly memorable moments perfectly. I knew that if I listened to that song in those moments enough, then listening to it later would bring back the emotions of the moment. It worked. Kday still scoops her up in his arms and dances with Layla to her song on some nights. He'll dance with her to that song on her birthday, her first date, and her wedding day. This will forever be her song.



And when we found out about baby Rider's looming arrival, the quest for his song began. It's not a matter of science but rather it's all about the song finding me. In a matter of days I came across his song and the first time I played it for Kday he agreed, it was Rider's song. It told me about his spirit before we could even meet him. I knew he'd be my sweet serenity in the eye of a storm. And he has been. He calms me. Now that we've figured out his grunting problems, he is back to his gentle peaceful self. He's my anchor. This is his song.


And I've had a song in my heart for baby #3 for a long time. Years actually. I think it's quiet fitting. It's the song I play on the way to every one of his dr appointments. It reminds me of our first meeting on his ultrasound when I saw the miraculous flutter of his little heart. And I'll listen to it the day we meet and forever on after... it will remind me of his birth.


Do you're kids have a song? If so, I'd love to hear about it in the comments.

OFF LIKE A HERD OF TURTLES

We're off to the zoo this am. We've been waiting for a break in the rainy weather and I'm dying to get out. In the 6 weeks since Monkey arrived, I've been on 1 outing to the park. That's it.
No time to blog when the monkeys and baby elephants are awaiting our arrival.
See you soon with pics to come. Enjoy your Manic Monday.

MORNING SICKNESS OF AN UNCONVENTIONAL KIND

What is up with the KA-RAY-ZEE dreams when one is "with child?" A month ago Kday noticed me crying in bed during his morning routine of getting out the door to go to work. He physically had to shake me to get me to wake up and stop crying. I had been dreaming that he was leaving me for a French woman who had approached me to say that he just couldn't handle another "fate phase" with me and he was taking Layla with him. Stupid french lady. Stupid Kday. I was mad at him for the entire day and left with an unshakable feeling of insecurity.

This morning I lay in bed awake for about two hours, just as sick to my stomach as I had been during the first trimester. It was not morning sickness that plagued me, no, it was the crazy dreams again. This time I had two dreams in a row that Kday had an affair while staying late at work and although it had occurred a year ago, he was just barely getting around to tell me about it. He said, "I don't want to talk about it right now," when I confronted him in the dream. But my distorted dream character continued to force the information out of him. I wanted details people. And they weren't pretty and it only made me more and more nauseated.

So I lay in the dark, cold, rainy early dawn and wondered... do I dare ask him in real life? What if the answer is the same as I had dreamt? Twice! So I whispered, "Kev, you awake?" He mumbled that his head hurt and yes, he was indeed awake. Did his head hurt from carrying around this big ginormous secret from me for over a year? "Baby, have you ever had an affair? Or even just kissed anyone else? Please just tell me the truth," I begged. Of course he didn't take me seriously until I began once again to cry. I layed there and cried while I recalled my dreams for him. He put his warm sweet hand that I know so well on mine and he whispered, "You're the only woman I've ever kissed. I promise."
I tried to neglect the emotions that my crazy dream stirred up inside but it was a hopeless effort. He continued to reassure me of his eternal love and I continued to cry because I knew how much I love him and how damaging it would be if I ever lost him. He got mad at me later in the day when I called him to ask again. Ha! I'm such a freakazoid! Like he'd ever do anything like that!!!
Ugh, what's up with that? I can't keep having these insane dreams!

On a super cool note, you know how my horoscope is always true?! Guess how funny it was when I sat down late last night and read my "scope" for the day... It said I'd be at the casino and that luck wouldn't be on my side. It just so happens that I had taken Layla to Boondocks arcade yesterday and our luck wasn't the best. Bo0ndocks arcade is about as close to a casino as you'll get in these parts, so how funny is that? I love me a good horoscope reading :)