almost a smile

Alexey the Great!

Clare is very sweet with Alexey. She says "I want to hold it" and will then sit down wherever she is to have her turn holding the baby. Usually she only wants to hold her for about one minute before she sees something else she'd rather do and is all done!




Calvin loves to hold Alexey. He asks to hold her almost all the time. He is very good with her and helpful -- he likes to help get her diaper, choose what clothes she'll wear, etc. He also says he would like to feed her. We have explained that only girls make milk after they have a baby. Kids learn lots of interesting things when they get a new baby in the house.


We are having a great time. Alexey is a sweet baby and pretty easy so far. Just eating and sleeping most of the time as baby's do!

Dave chose the name Alexey. She doesn't have a middle name (we don't for our girls so they can keep their maiden name as their middle name later on). Alexey is a Russian and Greek name from Alexander and Alexandria and can be a boy or girl name though I'd never use it for a boy myself. It's a common name in Russia. They say it alex-aye, we say it Alex-ie according to Denise's brother Scott who served a mission there. It means defender or protector or helper. Alexey is a boy name found in some of Dave's favorite books (by Dostoevsky and Tolstoy) including Anna Karenina which he is reading right now. She isn't named after any particular character (note that Alexey Vronsky and Alexey Alexandrovich were two of Anna Karenina's lovers who you wouldn't want to identify as namesakes persay, although Alexey Karamazov from Dostoevsky's novel was a good guy - but still not our namesake). Mostly we just liked the name. One fun thing about Alexey is that there are lots of nick names possible. Al, Allie, lexie, Alex.



PS. Like the blanket? I made it. Calvin picked out the fabric.

Introducing Alexey

Born Monday March 24, 2008
12:49pm
6 lbs. 11 oz.
18 in



Alexey squinting becuase of the flash on the camera.



Dave took a pic of the dr. right before we started pushing. At the time I thought it was crazy to take pictures, becuase I was ready to get things going! but I like this one becuase it has the clock in the background (the clock says 12:46). we only pushed for a couple of minutes and she was out. To me it felt like a lot longer!! so I was really suprised when I went through the pics and saw the time here.


Very excited siblings.


Clare saying "Hi Alexey" (it sounds like "hi yucky" becusae she doesn't say the L sound yet)







I wasn't going to include this pic because the kids are much cuter than Dave and I but this is the one he sent out to his team to tell them "the baby came...thanks for covering for me for a couple of days" so I thought if all those strangers saw it why not send it out to my friends too?!!

Lessons from an amazing visiting teacher

Nope, not me! Yesterday morning my visiting teacher called to see what plans I had for my kids while I am in the hospital and then afterwards when I'll need a little help as well. I have been slowly lining up babysitters/helpers as people have offered and so far had Monday and Tuesday covered -- which wouldn't even get me home from the hospital! Many people have offered to help but it's usually in a quick minute at church our out and about so it's been hard to get it on a calendar. Anyway, she offered to make a few calls to help me get things lined up. By the time I went to bed I had an email from her with babysitters/helpers lined up for a few hours every morning for a week and a half along with meals every evening. I was amazed. She had accomplished in one afternoon what I'd been trying to put together for weeks (but it's hard to ask for help sometimes) and I figured I'd survive as long as I had people to watch the kids while I was in the hospital. Anyway, I am so grateful to her and those who offered to help -- it will make the first couple of weeks a little less crazy. One of the girls I visit teach is due to have a baby this summer so now I know a little better how to be helpful to her.

Yesterday we went to the beach. We went to a different beach than usual so that there would be a playground there. It was a beautiful afternoon.

To Calvin's Fan's

Well, I've quit posting what time Calvin wakes up. Part of it is because I don't hear him of the time until he comes in to talk to me and I don't really know what time he wakes up. That has it's advantages (my sleep) and disadvantages (trouble he gets into while I am sleeping, such as playing in Dave's car in the garage which happened twice last week). The other reason I don't track the time is because it really doesn't change. The kid wakes up early! Even this week after the time change he was still up at right around 5 everyday, today he got up a little after 4. This completely surprised me because he went to bed at 7:30 last night and I didn't let him nap at all yesterday. If he ever does start sleeping like a normal child, I'll let you know. Until then, you can just imagine that he is getting up between 4:30-5:30.

Dave got his rotation schedule through 2013 this week. And, nope that isn't to the end of his residency. He'll still have his chief year after that. It is interesting to see what he'll be doing. Actually, he'll always be doing neurosurgery (with the exception of 3 months each of neuropathology and neuroradiolgy) but he'll be at various hospitals during that time including the children's hospital, a private hospital, and the VA as well as the two separate UCSD hospitals. The next 2 years will be TOUGH! but after that I think it'll be pretty reasonable. Years 5 and 6 are research/elective years where Dave will have a lot of flexibility and no hospital responsibilities so he will hopefully/probably work something like a regular job during that time.

Yesterday Clare was helping me get the baby room ready. The baby will be sleeping in my walk in closet for several months so that she is close to me and easy to get to for those night feedings! Then, hopefully we'lll be able to move her in with Clare. Clare found this hat, put it on and stood in the corner saying "cheese" "mom, take my picture." Isn't she getting big? Her hair is long and always in her eyes until I help her do her hair. I sometimes wonder if I should cut bangs for her but I'm pretty sure Dave would kill me if I did that.



Speaking of haircuts, I miss Bonnie. I got my hair cut this week one afternoon when Dave ended up getting home early. I don't really have a person here that I trust/know to cut my hair so I just went to the closest place that had an opening when I was availible. I'm disappointed becuase I don't thing the lady did a good job. It is nothing terrible, it is not crooked or anything like that, it's just not a great hair cut and not exactly what I described that I wanted. (and since I only get my hair cut once or twice a year, I like to feel great after it is done!) My hair was to the middle of my back and now just to my shoulders. At least it will be much easier to take care of and quicker to do but I sure do miss Bonnie and knowing that whatever she would do would be great!!!

Just a little over a week 'til baby comes. We are excited. Dave traded a call night so that he will have 4 calls this week and then none the following week. He'll be busy and tired but it will be nice to have a few nights with him home to put the kids to bed and help out a little. Baby will come Monday and then Dave has call the following Sunday so I guess it's not quite a full week but at least I don't have to be on my own the day I get home from the hospital as it would have been if he didn't trade. Monday is Dave's day off for the week and he says he'll try to get Tues. off too but other than that he doesn't have any days off. This rotation is kind of light since there is another intern on the team so he is hoping to get out in the afternoon everyday that first week. Friends from church are pitching in to help out with the kids while I am in the hospital and for a few days after and that is very nice. Hopefully things go smoothly so that I am back on my feet fast and able to keep up with the busy household!

Happenings...

This has been a crazy week. We have taken an unwanted vacation from laundry, cooking, cleaning, showers and all other things that require water usage in the house due to a MAJOR plumbing problem. I'll spare you the details but it has been kind of crazy. Especially not being able to clean (after having company for a week and expecting a baby next week). Oh, the phone just rang and they are on the way to fix it. Yeah! I don't think we could have made it another day! We have been waiting for a pump to get ordered since last Saturday when it broke. The kids have had a good time going to Bob and Kari's house to take a bath with Shi (my 10 year old sister) and her 3 dozen barbies but I do think it has taken a toll on them because we're all starving and thirsty most of the time but try to stay out of the kitchen. Okay, enough complaining. It really hasn't been that bad but has made us appreciate what an important part of life water is. Maybe even more important than electricity because without water you can't use any of your electrical appliances anyway!

Yesterday Dave got home in the afternoon (not post call ) so we went to Lake Poway to ride a pedal boat. Clare and I opted out but Calvin and Dave had a good time.


Clare and I went to feed the ducks and play on the playground.


5 months ago were the terrible wildfires that passed through our area. When we came back many of the hillsides that are normally covered with brush were black and looked like charcoal. Now the hills are bright with beautiful flowers and grass -- more than I've ever seen before. The fires cleared out all the brush and then a pretty wet winter brought on the most beautiful spring ever. Someone said, "5 months ago these hills were ablaze with fire and now they're ablaze with flowers." It is beautiful. The picture doesn't do it justice but you might be able to see some of the yellow, orange and purple flowers beside the green grass. The usually ground cover (brush) is brown and green, but not bright spring green as we are having this year!

Sober thoughts with gratitude

Today the 18 month old child of a wonderful family in our ward, drowned in the family swimming pool. I guess the gate had been left open. It is just heart breaking and so sad to think of losing a child. Especially in a pool. It is the worst nightmare for every mom, figuratively, and for me in the summer I probably have a real nightmare a couple of times a week when we are opening and closing the gate to our pool several times a day. I feel so sad for the mother especially. Erin was the youngest of 7 kids – 3 in high school, 2 in middle school and 1 in elementary school, with two little ones (ages 1 and 2). I am so sad for the family and they are apparently doing really well, going on with preparations for the funeral of course and also going on with much of life as usual. It is amazing the faith and strength they have. (their faith and strength have been much admired even before this tragedy. They are a great family)! How difficult a circumstance it is -- utterly impossible it would be without the gospel.

This week I was talking to a friend in the ward whose daughter married a military man. He is currently away from home doing some training and then pretty soon he is going to be deployed to Afghanistan for 15 months. That is such a long time. Over a year. I think of that in terms of my young children’s lives and it is hard to imagine Dave being gone for that long. It made me appreciate our situation. Even though Dave is gone a lot sometimes and has a tough schedule he is still here – and is always close enough that if I really needed him or had an emergency he could get home. The military wife is actually pregnant and isn’t even sure if her husband will be home when she has her new baby. It would be tough. Thinking about this family also made me appreciate their sacrifice and so many other families who sacrifice to send men overseas or even stay at home to be part of the military and preserve the freedoms we enjoy in America. What a blessed life I have. This time and place that I live in are so special and really my life is one of relative ease. There are many other generations of people who came before me and even people who live now in other parts of the world that struggle to meet day to day needs and I live, comparably, in a lap of luxury. I need to remember that a little more often. My day to day challenges (the kids) are really not too bad and actually are the blessings that make life worth living. I guess that is part of the challenge. Sometimes it's easier to face a big hardship rather than deal with the grind of the everyday small tests such as keeping happy, not losing my temper, saying nice things to and about everyone, etc.

The Great Plague of 1665-1666

This week I read the book Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks. It was a really good book. It is about the plague. It was a sad (of course) but very well written and had captivating characters. (but I can't necessarily recommend it because it does have a couple of scenes that are a big racy. 10 years ago I mentioned a book that I liked to a "friend" who then checked it out from the library to read. After reading about 1/3 of the book he had to put the book away was too dirty. I have since learned not to recommend or even mention books without a disclaimer. So, here's your disclaimer. It was pretty clean but had a couple of little incidents.) It is historical fiction, based on the true story of a small town out of London, Eyam, that decided to quarantine themselves after the plague hit their small village. 75%of the people in the village died. I didn't know very much about the plague (besides there was a plague and fleas on rats transmitted the disease). So, I've read a little about the plague this week as well. During this time period infection was a huge killer because there were no antibiotics and also people didn't properly understand how disease is spread as we do now. Now, about the plague in particular.

The plague is a bacterial disease which was carried to humans, as mentioned above, by the fleas of rats. It started in the spring of 1665 and then worsened as it got hot in the summer and spread faster, with death tolls in the 1-2,000 per week in early summer and by September 6,000 people died per week. At one point it was thought that dogs and cats were spreading the disease so a lot of dogs and cats were killed. This worsened the situation as it left the rats with less predators. Many citizens, especially well to do ones including doctors fled London to try and escape the terrible disease. One thing I was amazed at in the story which I hadn't considered before is how fast the disease killed people. It was often just one day, or a few days from the onset of the illness to death. The plague was characterized by high fever and ring like marks as well as terrible sores in the groin or neck or armpit area which were extremely painful. There are three types of plague -- bubonic- which enters the lymph, septic - which goes directly to the blood stream and Pneumonic - which attacks the lungs first. The first two are caused by flea bites and the third occurs when it is transmitted person to person.

Unlike some of the other terrible diseases such as small pox which have been eliminated by vaccines, there are still cases of the plague today and even some death but thanks to antibiotics it is treatable. (approximately 1700 cases worldwide and 100 deaths/year according to one website). Most cases are in Asia and the western US.

It is widely believed that the Great Plague's memory lives on in the nursery rhyme 'Ring-a-ring o' roses': the 'roses' refer to the red spots that appear over the buboes, and 'A-tishoo! A-tishoo! We all fall down!' recalls the violent coughing and swift death that accompanies pneumonic plague.

This London plague was thought to be the same disease which in the 14th century attacked Europe, killing almost 1/2 of the population, and was called "Black Death." The London plague of 1665 was called the Great Plague. Maybe because it was the last of many such plagues during this time.

Hopefully this made a little sense. I have been trying to write it for days but have a hard time getting it all out in a sensible manner.

Now I need a new book. Feel free to suggest something. Maybe something a little more upbeat. I always worry about things going wrong when I'm about to have a baby. Reading this book with children, mothers, and everyone dying was almost too sad at the beginning of the book but the story ended up picking up and was more about the poeple of the village than the death of most of them.

3 weeks from today

We've (tenatively) picked March 24th as the induction date for our baby. It is Monday, the day after Easter. It works pretty well with Dave's call schedule and it's a good day for the dr. It is one week earlier than my due date which is just about the time Clare was induced as well. Baby is head down and other than that --just like my with the other two-- my body is not showing any signs of getting ready for a baby to be delivered so there's a pretty good chance it'll be uneventful until the 24th. Now we just need to find a willing friend to watch the two little monkeys who will have no mom for a few days. (why is it that going to the hospital to have a baby is the only way to take a break from the kids?) I probably shouldn't have told anyone what time Calvin gets up in the morning becuase I think it will shorten my list of volunteers! Actually by that time, we will have had daylight savings time and Calvin will at least be sleeping past 5 and on many days past 6. Maybe. We asked Calvin who he wants to go stay with (or to come stay with him) and he says Uncle Dan. Dan is my 16 year old brother and the kids love him. He usually comes to our house and stays the weekend with us. He lives about 15 minutes away and likes to stay here because his computer is here (long story). It is nice to have him around. I am feeling pretty well -- big uncomfortable but that is to be expected at this point. Today Calvin said "I'm excited for the baby to come, are you?" We are all excited! It is coming up pretty soon!

Free Ice Cream

If you sign up for the Cold Stone Birthday Club you will get a coupon for free ice cream on your birthday. Sign up the whole family!

Welcome March!