Back Again

A little-known fact about me--I am a kidney stone maker. I had my first stone about three years ago, and once a stone-maker, always a stone maker. I thought I was dying. It was one of the worst experiences of my life. It was one of those I'm-in-so-much-pain-that-I-just-want-my-mom experiences, but unfortunately I was living in an apartment in Rexburg at the time with roommates who had their own lives going and no emotional investment in me. Actually, once I felt a little better, I drove myself to Utah for the weekend to be with my mom.

Anyway, that experience is not what this post is about.

Did you know the pregnant women are more likely to get kidney stones than people who are not pregnant?

In other words, I already had two hits by the fact that I have a history of them and that I am pregnant.

So when I realized I had a kidney stone two Sundays ago, Jon took me to the Emergency Room at the seventh worst hospital in the United States--according to an article I read on the all-knowing Facebook--where I was poked, prodded, and stabbed in the hands and arms because by this point I was so dehydrated that the nurses couldn't find my veins. And Brian Regan wasn't kidding when he said that an "8" on the pain scale equals morphine. Because I was pregnant they couldn't do a CAT scan, which is how they determine the size and location of kidney stones. And when I couldn't stop vomiting after 3 1/2 hours, they admitted me to the hospital until the stone passed.

All I can say is Jon and I are blessed to have such great friends and family. Two of our friends helped tend Netty while Jon spent time with me at the hospital and packed some of Netty's things, and my brother and his wife met Jon in Blackfoot and took Netty off our hands for a few days. The stone passed late Sunday night, but between the stone, the drugs, and the pregnancy, I was exhausted. For three days I slept as late as I wanted. Jon and I saw a movie and went to the temple. It was wonderful. And it was dreadful.

The most I had ever been away from Netty was for a couple hours at a time, and suddenly she was taken away from me for 4 1/2 days. Jon and I had been planning to go to Utah this last weekend anyway, so we picked up Netty in Logan on our way to my parents' house. At first she screamed when she saw us. It was like suddenly she realized that we'd left her, and she was letting us know that she was mad at us. By the time we got to Syracuse, she was friends with us again. We came back from Utah last night, and Netty was so happy to be home. Just in a week she has changed so much. She stands a lot more (still with help), and she can now go from her belly to a sitting position. She also is a lot more talkative, which I love.

Here is a video of Netty last night after we'd gotten home. This shows how truly happy she was to be back.

There Was a Little Girl...

Who had a little curl...

I know it doesn't look like much, but here is proof that Netty's hair is growing. She has had about the same head to hair ratio since she was born. Every time her head grows, her hair compensates. So this is the first time we've really seen the growth.

The other picture showed the curl better, but this picture shows the actual hair a little better, and that it is red.

Nine Months

Netty had her nine-month check-up today. I can't believe we're at nine months all ready! That means technically our next baby could have been here any day now, and that's a thought that makes me shutter. I am VERY grateful that Netty, though still young, will at least be a little older when Baby 2 arrives.

Here's a few Netty Kay stats:

She is 17 lbs, 3 oz, which puts her in the 20th percentile for weight.

She is 28 1/2 inches, which puts her in the 80th percentile for height.

She sleeps through the night (mostly) for 11-12 hours and still takes two 2-hour naps

She is usually happy and loves spending time with Mom and Dad (sometimes too much time)

She has seven teeth, and chews everything in sight

Her favorite place to play is under my desk where there are cords and flashing lights and a nice trash can that usually has "goodies" in it.

 Lately, one of her favorite toys is her purse from Grandma Phelps, which is also a wonderful teething device.

 This is Netty's favorite position throughout the day. She is sitting on my foot. This way, as far as she's concerned I'm still holding her, but she can still reach her toys. Luckily she's not heavy enough yet to make my foot fall asleep.

 Here's a close-up of her purse.

And a close-up of Netty.

This is the little face I look at all day.

 This is her "Can-you-just-give-me-that-camera-please" Look.

Although still a little wobbly, she loves to stand.

Her favorite word

One Proud Mama

I always thought it was silly and ridiculous how parents would gush over their completely average children. But one conversation with my mom would tell you that I've turned into one of those ridiculous parents. I'm call my mom almost every day with the newest Netty developments, which usually involve her doing the same thing that every other kid her age is doing. I am grateful that she doesn't point out my silliness, because I am well aware of it. However, that doesn't stop me from beaming every time Netty does something new. I feel overwhelmed with joy when I think how this little girl went from doing absolutely nothing to holding two toys at once, army crawling all over our apartment, and saying "mamamamam" and "dadadadada."

 When a boy in our ward only four days older than Netty was pulling himself up to stand at our coffee table before Christmas, I felt a little depressed that my own brilliant child wasn't doing the same thing. After all, the doctor had told me that Netty was ahead of schedule. Now that the same little boy is walking, I don't feel so bad about Netty being a little behind him. I'm not ready for her to start walking! However, I was super excited one day when Netty pulled herself up to the coffee table. I cheered for her and clapped, and she thought it was great. She, too, started banging on the table with glee.

And then she lost her balance....

BBBRRRRRRR!

A New Favorite

Our living room is now constantly littered with Kleenex.

Christmas and a Little Bit After

I know I'm late getting this posted. That's the story of my life these days.

Christmas in Utah with our families was wonderful. We feel so fortunate that the Kays and the Phelpses live relatively close so we could see both of our families on Christmas.

 I made this absolutely ADORABLE Christmas decoration when I was in Kindergarten. For years my mom hung it in the kitchen, but more recently she hasn't. So I have made a goal to ensure that periodically throughout the year Mom finds a little Christmas cheer throughout the house. At Thanksgiving I hung it in the living room, and while Jon and I were in Utah, she hung it in the room we were staying in. Notice the askew picture frame on which it is hanging. That's because she heard us coming and was in a hurry. We left it up through most of our stay. Sadly, this year it was put away with all the other Christmas decorations.

Here's our family on Christmas Eve. Netty wasn't cooperating very well for the picture, but that's nothing new. She's a "squirm-worm."

This is a much better picture of Netty, although sadly, we didn't get a good picture with a smiling Netty AND Stephie's face.

Netty was very confused when we woke her up early on Christmas morning. But it was a busy day and we needed to get an early start. She did love the little plate of wooden doughnuts that Santa left her. She might have loved them more if they were REAL doughnuts.

This was Netty's face through most of Christmas morning. The poor girl didn't enjoy most of her presents until we got back to Rexburg almost two weeks later and she finally got a good night's sleep.

I crocheted scarves this year for Jon's parents and my mom. I decided that Netty needed one as well, so here's Netty with HoneyGram in their matching scarves. They also have matching peacoats.

This was the one present Netty really played with on Christmas morning. My parents bought her this push-toy that has all kinds of spinning toys on the front. She still loves it, and she chases it around the room as she's playing with it.

This is the only way I accomplish anything in the kitchen. Netty wants to be at my side all the time. Usually she just wants to be held, but in the kitchen she loves her very own drawer.

One Sunday evening Netty was really hungry but dinner wasn't ready yet. I put some Cheerios on her tray, but she insisted on eating the yogurt I was eating.

Yogurt Face

And an Otter Pop

Netty gets into everything these days. These little drawers keep her busy for a while. Thankfully, she doesn't know that the tops come off and the pens actually write!

Lights on Temple Square

Since my parents moved to Utah, they've tried to make seeing the lights on Temple Square a tradition. For one reason or another, Jon and I never made it last year. This year, however, we took Netty down. We went with my parents and Koji and Shin Hye, my parents "adopted" children. We all froze, and Netty threw several fits, but at least it was a night to remember!

 During the Nativity Presentation - Netty decided she'd had enough of the cold, and just after I took this picture she started screaming. We went inside to wait for everyone else.

 Once everyone joined us, we sat down and Netty chewed on a candy cane. This was probably the highlight of her night.

 Jon doesn't like having his picture taken, but I insisted.

 And then to make him feel better, I let him take a picture of me.

 And together.

Here's Koji and Shin Hye. Their baby, Julia, was born on Christmas Day.

Papa, Netty, and HoneyGram in front of the Salt Lake Temple

Our Little Family

Jingle Bells

It's no secret that Netty fell in love with our Christmas tree. One ornament in particular was her favorite. In fact, even though our Christmas decorations are put away, I think this ornament is still in with her toys. Here she is playing with it.

Why So Long...

Yes, the four-week absence was somewhat intentional. It's because when you have news that's good enough to share with the whole world and you're trying to prove to your husband that yes, you can keep a secret, you have to take a sabbatical from social media, including your family blog. But now we can share. Actually, I could have shared a week ago, but we've been spending so much time with family that I haven't had much time for blogging.

 
Jon and I found out about a month ago that Baby #2 is en route, due July 25, 2013. By now, most people have already heard either from us personally by way of visit or phone call or semi-personally (which is really a way of saying not personally at all) via Facebook. Please don't take it personally if we didn't call you or show up on your doorstep. Between the Kays and the Phelpses, we had a lot of people to tell, and with a croupy baby, two car breakdowns, and a crappy cell phone battery, we weren't able to call everyone that we wanted to call. If you are just finding out for the first time, I apologize for not getting the word our sooner. If you're a frequenter of Facebook and you're still finding out now for the first time, well, shame on you for not paying closer attention to your news feeds.

More to come later. Wishing you all a Happy New Year.

Love,
The Phelpses