Owen Edison

Tiny Guy

Three years ago today we brought into the world the smallest of the tribe. Weighing in at 2 pounds .3 oz he was a small fry. I remember being so scared when I went in for the emergency c-section. They had someone come in and talk to me about "the baby" and what to expect. I had already spent 5 weeks in the hospital and had my fair share of blood transfusions, daily blood draws (ironic, right?), steroid shots to develop baby's lungs, and lots more shots of all sorts of things to stop the contractions and keep him in. Now, he wasn't willing to stay in any more. He was 27 weeks when he was born. Too early, but long enough to have a fighting chance on the outside.We did what we could to keep him in as long as we could. Hoping it would be enough.

Holding my small fry

Shaunton barely made it in time to witness the birth of our third child. The sensation of a c-section is really weird. I remember them saying he was out. Shaunton said they pulled him out by his feet. Which I guess means by his legs, since his feet weren't even big enough to hold onto. I remember that he didn't cry. I remember that he has a head full of hair. I remember that he opened his eyes and looked right at me. Calm. They were surprised that he opened his eyes. They were surprised that he was breathing on his own. (Which didn't last very long, he soon needed help.) He was covered with a blanket, so I didn't really see how tiny he really was. But he still looked tiny wrapped. They took me to recovery. The took me to a room. They didn't take me to my baby. I didn't see him again until the next day. When I did, I cried.

  

I took pictures but didn't look at them. I knew I would want them later. They were too scary for me to look at. To think about . I just focused on pumping for him and watching the other two. I visited every night and held him when he was big enough. I couldn't stay at the hospital all the time. I felt guilty. Up and down the emotions and weight went until the day of his release. I was overjoyed when he came home 12 weeks later.

 

Fast forward three years. I have a rough and tough three year old boy. A boy who has already broken bones, lost nails, skinned knees, and rolled with the punches. He is fairly indestructible. He loves to argue with his older sister, imitate his older brother and smother his younger one with kisses. He is a daddy's boy. He loves Cars, Toy Story, and playing outside in the dirt. He likes to turn sticks into light sabers or guns, depending on his mood. He likes to do it himself.  He is my kid with the big eyes and the all too recent first hair cut. You won't know that he started out his life is such dramatic fashion. He resembles any other just turned three year old boy...except he is my little boy.

I know that Heavenly Father has purpose for him. I know that this experience happened to me (and our family) for a reason. We have gained something from it. We don't fully understand it, but will be privy to that information when the time is right. Until then, we can know that Heavenly Father loves us, hears our prayers, answers our late night and fervent prayers, and blesses us more than we can ever truly comprehend or appreciate.I am eternally grateful for a Heavenly Father who was willing to give me a trial and let me draw closer to him. I am thankful for a happy, healthy, independent, free spirited, book reading, dinosaur growling, block stacking, train loving, brother kissing, sister annoying, brother imitating, little boy that will be with me for infinity and beyond!

Happy Birthday Owen! We love you! Surely you are my favorite-est little boy in the whole wide world!

(Holding up three fingers is going to take some practice!)

Synergy

Last night we were learning about synergy and how it related to the scriptures. Shaunton talked to the kids about how toothpicks can demonstrate this. He asked Jaxen if he thought he could brake one toothpick in half. Jaxen agreed that he could. How about 5 toothpicks together? Jaxen thought he probably wouldn't be able to do that as easily.

We talked about how individually we are weak, but together we are made stronger. This is true as a family and a church.

Ember, who is absent-mindedly coloring (or so I thought), looks up thoughtfully and shares her version of synergy.

E: So, we are like the toothpicks and Satan is trying to break us. (See, they do listen and take it in...even if it doesn't seem like it at the time!)


That is so true. If we stick together as family and church we have more power against him then we do standing against him alone.

Blankets and Quilts

This year, I made all the kids a blanket/quilt for their birthday. Not that any of them can use them right now...but when the winter comes they will be excited to use them.

Jaxen's quilt has a soccer theme. I also asked him what his favorite colors were and that is where the other colors come in. It is twin size and the backing is an orange fleece. If I could do it over again, I might add another fabric with print instead of all solid colors.

Ember's was the easiest to plan. She loves dogs and cats, so I knew that would be her theme. The fabric was easy to find, but one decided to shrink more than others in the wash, so I had to downsize the quilt a bit because I wasn't willing to buy more. It is a little smaller than a twin size. The backing is a cream fleece.

I hate to waste anything, so I wanted to find a way to use the left over fleece from the other quilts. Kaysen's blanket used the remnants from Jaxen's quilt. It ended up being about 48"x50-something. A pretty good size. We went with the monster print because that is his nickname to some members of our family. It is just a fleece on fleece blanket. The backing is the remnants sewn together with the top panel. No fringe, just sewn right sides together, flipped out, and another border edging.

Owen's blanket is made with Ember's remnant fleece. It is bigger than Kaysen's because Ember's blanket was smaller than Jaxen's. Real life word problem, right? Anyway, he LOVES Toy Story, so I sent Shaun to pick out some fleece to make this blanket. It ended up being 48"x60", give or take an inch. Same deal as Kaysen's on the put together.

I am so glad to be done with them though. I belted out one a month for the past four months. Some easier than others, but all the same, I am a little burnt out. I plan to take a break and work on my scrap-booking...which has not stopped piling up.

Kaysen James

 Kaysen James came into this world on July 13, 2009 at 11:21 a.m. He was my biggest baby at 9 lbs 14 oz. I think he would have weighed more if he was weighed before he "let it all out". I knew he didn't have much space in there, but I wouldn't have guessed he weighed close to 10 lbs!

He was my calmest baby. It isn't until recently that he found his set of lungs. For those of you "lucky" enough to experience the ear-splitting shrieks of delight...and the ear-splitting shrieks of anger...thank you for smiling and not saying anything.

He had the most hair at birth than any of my other children, and also the darkest and thickest. It is still thick and luxurious to this day. This kid never had a bald spot. He does wake up with a wicked teased look in the back every morning. I held out hope that I would get by blue eyed baby, but brown eyes are beautiful too.

Kaysen started crawling on March 10th and it didn't take long before he had the urge to walk (May 26th). He waves, he claps, he has a shy head tilt, he blows raspberries, he covers and uncovers his mouth while making noise. He can climb off the bed. He learns something new everyday, and his brothers and sister are there to help him learn. He is in the bruised up stage of his life. Not tall enough to do much of anything, but tall enough to run into every corner and trip of every toy and sibling. He has a beautiful smile.

I love you Kaysen James. I may not know what to get you for your birthday... (What do you get the boy who has everything?!) ...but I love you more than any present can convey. Surely you are my favorite-st baby in the whole wide world! 

Happy Birthday Kaysen James!!!!

Nothing hits the spot like cake and ice cream!

Owen....

BEFORE

AFTER

Owen begged for a hair cut. Shaun was in desperate need of a cut and I was getting things ready to do his hair. Owen said he wanted a hair cut. I tried to talk him out of it with talks of sweets and movies, but he wasn't buying it. He wanted a haircut. He wanted one like Daddy. He sat there as perfectly still as any two year old can, and let me chop it off. It wasn't until there was lots of little hairs all over his body that he started squirming. We did save a lock for his baby book.

I can't believe it. I couldn't picture what he would look like with short hair! Surprisingly, he hair is pretty thick. He didn't like all the attention he got from the relatives at the party tonight, though. We didn't tell anyone, just let them see him for themselves. Three out of four adults shrieked and one nephew wanted to know who he was. Twas great! 

To Grandmother's House we go...

My parents moved not to long ago down to Sierra Vista. We have never been there and decided to take some time this summer to visit Grandma and Grandpa. (Grandma was missin' us real bad!)

So we loaded up on a Thursday morning and headed out.

Our first day there we just sort of hung out. We went over to visit my Uncle JR (my Dad's brother). We also drove around to look for deer. The names of where we went are escaping me at the moment, but we went through two beautiful scenic routes down there. We saw five does. It was really neat to see them in people's front yards just grazing. Afterward we went out to eat at the Golden Corral.

The next morning we got up early and headed out to Tombstone. We have never been there either. It was neat to see the older buildings and the horse drawn carriages. The shops had tons of interesting things. A necklace with a scorpion embedded in it, black jack chewing gum, lots of rocks, jewelery, and other odds and ends. The kids of course wanted something from every store we went into. I did end up with a beautiful necklace from the trip. We had lunch at a little saloon over there and decided to make our way over to Bisbee to check it out. On our way out of the restaurant it starts to rain hard for the next 30 minutes or more. We ended up taking shelter in a shop. After the rain slowed we braved the trip to the van.

Hanging outside a shop

This was the street musician. The kids played music with him right before it started to pour. 

 Coincidence? I think not!

Next we headed over to Bisbee to check it out. The city is beautiful. Postcard beautiful. It is like a fake city from a movie. The house are literally built into the mountains. We got out and walked around the little shops. It was quaint. It was different. We wanted to check out the mine, but it was closed for the day. We drove back and had an awesome BBQ and went swimming. (Apparently the rain only liked Tombstone and Bisbee.)

We are planning to go up again for the Fall break and spend a little bit more time there.

On my mind

I was reading my scriptures this afternoon and came across this section of a verse. I have been thinking about it ever since I read it.

"...I trust there remaineth an effectual struggle to be made." Mosiah 7:18

This is where King Limhi is addressing his people, telling them about their struggles they have had before and what lies ahead with the help of the newly found brotheren (who incidentally  found them---Ammon and his men).

I liked the phrase "effectual struggle". I thought about it. Read it again. Thought about it. Looked up effectual. Pondered some more. Then it hit me.


"...I trust there remaineth an effectual struggle to be made." = LIFE

Life is an effectual struggle. Simple, right? Now you can read it, ponder it, and have your own a-ha moment.

I am so thankful to have moments like these where what I need to hear from the Lord resonates in my mind until I stop what I am doing and focus on it. Sometimes the meaning (for me) comes quickly. Sometimes it takes more time. But it is always worth it and always what I need.

Coming across passages like these give me a greater ability to put my best foot forward in my effectual struggle that is life because I know the Lord loves me and has provided me with all I need to get back home. I just have to put in the work to understand it and learn all I can.