Camping with the Culbertsons

The first weekend in August, the kids and I went camping up by Strawberry Reservoir with my mom, my sister Sarah, and my brother Jake.  Nate couldn't join us because of work.  We stayed 2 nights.  The kids had a good time, aside from Jonah's middle-of-the-night bloody nose. That was anything but fun.
  As for me, well you probably already know how I feel about camping in the first place (not a fan).  Now remind yourself that I'm pregnant, exhausted, and having to pee every hour or so and then I'm sure you can guess how much I enjoyed it.  (Sorry Mom, I'm just not a camper, but I went anyway.  See how much I love you? =)). 
I'll spare you the play by play of everything we did and just share some pictures and highlights. 

Ready to do some fishing in the reservoir!

Lilly and Jayne had a great time playing in the sand and the water.  Lilly built a castle with a moat. 

Jake brought his dog Kirby along.  Lilly took him for a walk on the beach. 

Grandma Laurie and Jayne doing some fishing. 

Jonah loved fishing!  He got pretty good at casting out his line.  Sadly, we didn't catch anything, but it wasn't for lack of trying.

Aunt Sarah made these "safari" hats for the kids and put together a sort of treasure hunt for them. 

Roasting hot dogs on the fire.

My 'Mother of the Year' moment.  After a few hours of sitting in the sun fishing, I realized that while I had dutifully slathered both of the girls in SPF 50, somehow I completely forgot to put any sunscreen on Jonah!  Poor kid was fried!  It was even darker the next day.  My mom had to go down to the docks and buy some aloe from the little shop there.  Luckily it didn't blister, just peeled.  

I asked Jayne what she was doing right before I took this picture and she said, "I just need to relax here for a minute Mom. This is very relaxing."  Not sure how that can possibly be relaxing, but she seemed to be enjoying it. 

So we survived another camping trip.  Maybe next time we can do camping my style, in a hotel or cabin or something like that.   ;)

It Is Finished!!!

As of the second week of August, I have officially earned my bachelor of science degree in family life studies from Utah State University!  We didn't really do anything to celebrate.  The University only does a graduation ceremony in the spring and since I refused to walk last May because it would be strange to me to "graduate" before I had actually graduated and walking in May 2013 when it will be almost a year since I finished just seems silly, I won't be participating in the traditional cap and gown hoopla.  I had hoped to do some sort of get together with friends and family to celebrate, but we ended up moving to St George one week after my classes finished, so that didn't happen either. But the important thing is that I finished. 

Now people keep asking me that one question that I find so hard to answer..."What are you going to do with your degree?"  People seem especially curious when they hear that my major was family life studies.  They get that look on their face that betrays their thoughts that my degree sounds pretty useless and perhaps even 'easy'.   I don't think there's any such thing as a truly 'easy' college degree, especially this one and there are several things I could do with my degree.  

I could work for state or federal government programs such as DCFS.  I could work in community education programs.  I could work for corporations helping develop and implement programs to help their employees balance work and family life.  I could work for any sort of community outreach program such as Head Start working with families.  I could work for an agency that provides basic financial counseling for families. I could basically do anything that involves working with or helping families and children. 

So what am I going to do with my degree?  One thing that really stood out to me in all of my classes about development and well being of families and children is the importance and influence of good parents.  Being there for your children and being an active, positive influence in their lives truly makes a difference.  While quality time is important, quantity time is what allows for those quality moments to exist.  So for my family, for right now, I am going to use my degree to make me a better mother, wife, and member of my community. 

The work vs. stay at home decision is one that every mother has to make and I believe that every mother does what she feels is best for her individual situation and her family.  For us, me getting a job right now just wouldn't make sense.  Part of me would love to work and have something outside the home that I felt was uniquely mine.  Sometimes I even feel guilty for being an at-home parent, particularly when money is so tight.  I know that I am an educated, qualified, and capable individual and that I could contribute to our family's income.  But with three kids at home and a baby on the way in about 9 weeks, would that contribution be worth it?  Would it benefit my family right now?  No.  It would not. 
One of the reasons I was drawn to the family life studies degree is that every thing I learned can be directly applied to my life with my family.  I took classes on child and human development, individual and family finances and resources, social policy, family crises and interventions, parenting and child guidance, abuse and neglect, diversity, balancing work and family, and marriage and family relationships. 
So while I'm toying with the idea of a master's degree and a career in the future, for now I'm just going to take that degree, nail that sucker to my wall and enjoy the fact that I finally reached my goal of finishing a four year(which was more like a 6 or 8 year by the time I got it done) college degree.  Then I'm going to do my best to enjoy every minute of peanut butter sandwiches, princess stories, dinosaur museums, coloring pages, loose teeth, Sesame Street, and soon even spit-up and dirty diapers. 

Swimming Lessons

For their Christmas gift this year, Uncle Jake gave the kids swimming lessons this summer.  We had so much going on all summer, that the only session we could fit in was for the last couple of weeks of July.  The lessons were at the West Valley Family Fitness Center.  All three kids were very excited!  Jonah and Lilly took swimming lessons last summer at the pool in Magna.  Jonah had completed the first two levels and Lilly had only taken the first level.  She didn't pass because she just couldn't bring herself to put her whole head under the water.  
Jonah is a fish!  He loves swimming and picked up on everything really quickly.  He loves to dive for rings or sticks and really likes jumping off the side into the pool. 
Lilly had a few issues.  Luckily, she had a really patient teacher who constantly reassured her that he wasn't going to let her fall under the water.  This reassurance only rarely convinced her to release her vice-like grip on him, but a few times she did actually do a back float without digging her fingernails into his shoulders.  Poor guy. Needless to say, she still didn't pass level one.  She loves to play in the water, but can't seem to conquer her fear of putting her face in the water. 
Jayne only got to do one week of the session because she ended up at the hospital after the first day.  After she came back, she just jumped right in with the others in her class.  Jayne has no fear of the water and loved every minute of her lessons.

Lilly after her lesson.  Notice how the bottom of her hair is wet, but not the top?  =)

Jayne is in the middle listening intently to her teacher.

Now that we live in a townhouse with a pool, we've been swimming more times in the last week than we did all summer.  The kids are having a great time practicing the things they learned in their lessons.  Well, except Lilly.  She's having a great time in the pool, as long as her head stays dry.  Silly girl. 
Thanks for the great Christmas gift Uncle Jake!  It was such a fun addition to our summer!

Jayne's Hospital Stay

Our darling little Jayne spent the last week of July at Primary Children's Hospital. It all started with a fever.  She'd had fevers off and on for about a week without any other symptoms.  Then one morning she was complaining of a sore throat.  Sure enough, her little throat was all red and swollen.  I took her to the pediatrician.  Her rapid strep test came back negative and the doctor said it was probably just a virus. 
The next morning, Jayne came into our bedroom crying that her throat hurt.  The left side of her neck was all swollen and she had another fever.  This time Nate took her to the doctor while I stayed home with Jonah and Lilly.  Then I get a text saying that they've been sent to Primary Children's for a CT scan because they suspect that she has an abscess in her throat. 
Thanks to some wonderful neighbors, I was able to join Nate and Jayne in the ER.  Our poor girl was just miserable!  They needed to place an IV for the scan.  Apparently Jayne has her daddy's veins.  They had to poke her 8 times before they got a successful IV.  Jayne was so good and didn't scream or kick.  Nate did a great job of keeping her calm.  I pretty much just held her hand and tried not to cry myself.  I hate seeing my kids in pain. 
The scan showed a good sized abscess on the left side of her throat.  It was beginning to constrict her airways.  She was admitted to the hospital and began receiving intravenous antibiotics.  Her strep culture also came back positive.  We were told that it would be 24 to 48 hours until her inflammation markers would be low enough for us to take her home.  Jayne was so weak and tired and had fevers off and on all night long. Nate pulled the night shift while I went home to be with Jonah and Lilly.  I was so grateful to have the help of my sister Sarah and my mom in watching the kids while I went back and forth to the hospital and Nate worked.  
Jayne was in the hospital for four days.  Her inflammation markers took a bit longer than usual to drop low enough.  By her fourth day, she was back to her happy, energetic self.  The abscess had shrunk and her levels were down enough that they let us take her home on some oral antibiotics.  

Jonah & Lilly came for a quick visit.  They thought the masks they got to wear were really cool.

Day 1--So tired and miserable.  They were so worried about having to re-do her IV because it was so difficult to place that they kept her hand all wrapped up.  They had to mess with it in the middle of the night because it got backed up.

Day 2--She had a bit more energy in the morning and did some coloring.  By afternoon, she was tired and her fevers were back. 

Day 3- Feeling quite a bit better, but the numbers weren't where the doctors wanted them yet, so we had to stay another night.  Aunt Rachel sent her the cute stuffed monkey and our neighbor Jackie sent the wooden dolls for her to play with.  They were both such a big help. Those and "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse" got us through. =)

Day 4- Feeling so much better!  The numbers finally dropped by more than 50% overnight and we finally got to go home.

Jayne is now fully recovered.  Lilly had a little bout with strep last week, but we caught it nice and early so she didn't get bad at all. 
When the kids are sick, your whole world gets turned upside down.  Nate ended up using some personal days and vacation days so that he could stay  in the hospital with her.  He was so sweet and I had to practically force him to go home, take a shower, and get a little sleep.  We're so grateful for all the help and concern from family, friends, and neighbors. 

Just a quick "Hello"

Life has been crazy lately and this little blog has been neglected beyond belief.  One of these days I'll do some nice long, detailed posts with pictures about all of the things that have been going on. But, for now, you'll just have to be happy with a brief rundown of the craziness that is life at the Barnum's.

• We're now 28 weeks pregnant.  You know what that means....lots of exhaustion, hungry all the time, swollen feet, mood swings.  It's lovely.  
• Ashley finished her summer semester and her bachelor's degree.  WooHoo!
• Jayne spent 4 days at Primary Children's hospital with an abscess in the back of her throat. She was a real trooper and is now back to her happy, energetic self.  Mom and Dad, however, are still trying to recover from that wonderful, sleep-deprived week. 
• The kids took two weeks of swimming lessons courtesy of Uncle Jake's Christmas gift.  Jonah and Jayne both loved it.  Lilly liked it, but I think her instructor probably still has marks from where her fingernails were digging into his skin when he was trying to get her to float on her back.  
• We've made a few trips to the zoo and saw the new polar bear, grizzlies, otters, sea lions, and seals.
• Ashley and the kids went camping with Grandma Laurie, Aunt Sarah, and Uncle Jake.  You'll love reading about this one.  It has everything from drunk, loud neighbors to catching crawdads to a 3:00AM nose bleed.  
• Nate got a job transfer to St. George and we are moving down there next week.  The time from when he got the job to when we're moving down was about three weeks.  Three very stressful weeks.  I'll be so glad when it's all over with. 

 So there you have it.  Our crazy life.  Once we get moved and settled, I should have some time to elaborate on all of the above.  Until then......