Church in Nairobi

We landed in Nairobi on Saturday night at 11:00 PM and are still trying to adjust to the time change.  We found a ward (The Upper Hills Ward)  meeting at 10 AM on Sunday and actually found the building in time for Sacrament.  Apparently nobody has heard of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, so a lot of prayers were being said by me in the back of our little Toyota with a personal driver, as our driver was driving around looking for the building like a needle in a haystack. 

Church was fabulous.  Glad to report that the church is the same in Nairobi, Africa as it is in Mesa, AZ.  The people were friendly and fun to talk to.  They asked us to share our testimonies in sacrament meeting which was very humbling.  After sacrament I was drawn to the primary room where I stayed for the next two hours and got to listen to their sweet testimonies through songs and stories.  Boy did they have a lot to say!  They were so smart and knew all the aswers to all the questions their teachers asked, and they sang so beautifully. The opening song for primary was my favorite primary song called, "If I Had Been A Little Child".  I loved to hear their voices.  They were so polite and well behaved too.  

Here is a picture of the church building.  It was also the building for institute, Nairobi mission office, and the  geneology libary.  This was definately one of the highlights of the trip for me. BTW, this is Flat Stanley...Jake gave him to us to take with us on our trip for his kindergarten class!! :)

Macy Mcgoo part 2!

Ahhhh! I remember the day we brought you home.  It felt SOOOOOO good to FINALLY bring my baby girl home, and to have my little family all together.  No more having to say good bye to Max and Allie so I could spend time with you, or having to kiss you good bye to go home to be with Max and Allie and Dad.   I was in tears coming and going!  You poor thing, you were so done with all those tubes and monitors and needle sticks.  On to brighter days and on to meet your big brother and big sister who have been anxiously waiting your homecoming!

Here are the proud siblings now!  They were so happy to see you.  They love holding you and taking care of you.  You were so tiny, even they realized how gentle they needed to be with you.

This is one happy sister.  She loves you and brings you anything you need or think you might need, or didn't even know you needed.  So helpful!

Look at this proud brother.   Could that face be any happier?  

                                        
Have I mentioned that I love baby bath time?  Oh man, looking at these pictures makes me so happy!  You were a sweet, sweet baby.  You loved the bath.  I love this picture of you stretching.  You never made a peep.  You were on a good schedule, no tummy aches, and a good sleeper (well, that is for a little peanut).  You loved to snuggle and be swaddled.  You loved to eat, and so you started to grow...

and grow...

and grow...

and grow!!!

Love those cute teeth!

One more important part to this story is that while I was in the hospital on bed rest, we signed papers and closed on our new home in Arizona.  You wanted so badly to be a California baby, and so you were!  We moved to Arizona when you were six weeks old, but not without taking you out to the city for our favorite San Francisco treat-the Earthquake at Ghiradelli Square.  Of course we didn't want you to feel left out or think that we never took you to San Francisco!

This is your blessing day.    So stinkin' sweet!

Look at these bathing beauties!

Love that girl!!!

Macy's First Eight Months (Part 1)

From this to this in eight short months!

Of course we had to take the official belly picture the night before you were born! 

Here is a picture of you Macy girl the night you were born!  All of those tubes and monitors attached to you were so sad to see, but we were so relieved that you were a healthy baby girl!  I remember being so frustrated trying to hold you and feed you with all of those tubes attached.  The day they took those off was a day of celebration!  You were teeny, tiny, but believe it or not, you were big compared to the other babies in the NICU.  You were in the NICU for about 7 hours and then you were put into the intermediate nursery because you were so strong and healthy!

This little picture is to remind me how sweet Daddy was to me while I was on bed rest at the hospital.  He came everyday to see me and be with me and calm my nerves and distract me from worrying too much.   Not Mommy's finest hour! 

 I love this picture of you in your isolete.  You stayed in the hospital for 10 days after your birth and I would drive over the Dumbarton bridge and through Palo Alto every day to Stanford Hospital and hold you and feed you all day long.  Every once in a while I would let you just rest and sleep, and stay warm in your bed, but you were so sweet and would look up at me and stare into my face all day long.  Oooh you were so soft and warm and cuddly!  We had lots of bonding time.  Plus you had the cutest blankies in the whole hospital. (Thanks auntie Becky!)

Now here is the sad part...While you were in the hospital, Max, Allie and I got really bad colds, which means I couldn't go to the hospital anymore to be with you.  So, Dad went to the hospital every day to be with you.  He would bring you milk and hold you and take pictures of you to bring to me.  Here are some of the pictures he took.  Look how big your binkie is compared to your sweet little face!   Being away from my new baby was one of the hardest times in my life!  Especially after all the stress and scariness of you trying to come early! 

We were taken care of in so many ways.  This 4 week hospital stay was during the whole month of February.  My young women in the Brookvale ward heart attacked our door for valentines day which made me so happy because the kids loved it!   Holidays are a big deal to me and it meant a lot to have someone showing so much love to my kids when I was away from them.  Max, your birthday was just 2 days after Macy was born, so Daddy threw you an impromptu birthday party (sweet daddy).  Aunt Becky made this cool cake for you.   

When I went into the hospital, Auntie Jenny and Abigail flew out to help us.  Which, by the way, is when Abigail learned to walk ;)  I don't know what we would have done without her.  

When she left, Auntie Steph and Johnny came out to help and she took such good care of you guys and helped with grocery shopping and the house and taking you cute kids to McDonalds :)  You LOVED it! Lets not forget all of our sweet, wonderful friends in Fremont that helped us through, bringing us dinner, visiting me in the hospital, taking the kids with them.  It makes me miss them to think about them!  They were incredible friends. 

Wow!  What a crazy, crazy time in our life!  It is time for bed tonight, but we will finish more of this story tomorrow!

Yes, I am back to blogging!

I know it has been a little while...OK, a LOOOOOONG while but I am getting ready to blog again, well, almost ready :) I have a baby that is sleeping longer, a house that is unpacked and partially decorated, and a new camera! All set to go, right? Here is one small change, I want to shake it up a bit, and here is why: While I was in the hospital on bed rest, I FINALLY turned my blog into a book, had it printed off and delivered to my house. It was fantastic! (It took me about 10 hours and cost about $40) Now that I have figured out how to do that, I want to change my writing style a bit on this blog to be directed to my kiddos for book purposes. We'll see how it goes!

It's a girl!!! !!! Here's a quick update, sorry no pics, yet...

Hi all! I wanted to let you all know how we are doing... EXHAUSTED! But good. Your prayers and thoughts helped make this miracle happen. Macy Marie was born on Sunday night and weighed 4 lb 15 oz. She stayed in the NICU for all of 6 hours and then they moved her to the intermediate intensive care nursery because she was doing so well, and still is.

She is eating and breathing on her own. She is in an isolette to regulate her body temperature. All of her tests for infection came back negative and her head scan looked good. It really is a miracle that she is doing so well.

I will try to post pics soon. Life around here is crazy busy. If I am not with Macy in the hospital I am sleeping on the hospital couch. When I am home, I am loving being with Max and Allie again. Alex has taken this week off of work and is spending lots of time with me and Macy, and taking care of the house and Max and Allie.

All of our friends and family here have been helping so much with Max and Allie and they are loving all of the play dates over the past few weeks. Here's a cute story that my sister told me (Becky flew out this week to help out and it was so great having her here for the birth). Alex's sisters Steph and Jen came out the weeks before that and helped a ton too.
So Allie was singing the song "I am A Child of God" and the words say, " I am a child of God, and he has sent me here. Has given me an earthly home, with parents kind and dear." Except she said, "with parents kind of here!" :( That is how much we have been gone over the past 3 weeks. But really, they are doing so well and never cry when we leave them. They love their aunties and friends.

Right now we are watching closely for jaundice, which she is slowly getting more of. That might keep her in the hospital a little longer, but if that is the worst that comes of all of this than we won't complain.

Love you all, sorry no pics, but she is one darling little peanut... kind of looks like Allie did :)

Getting a little stir crazy

Warning this is a long one with no pictures (the no pictures is for your own sake) :)

OK, I am going a little crazy here in this little hospital room. Can I just vent for a minute about the things that are driving me crazy????

1. The florescent lights are making my eyes blurry.
2. The hospital food is getting old (which is new for me, because thus far I have loved the food... although I think I just love not having to cook it, decide what to make, go to the grocery store, clean it up, and talk two toddlers into eating it because its "yummy").
3. Wow, I really don't want to sleep in another hospital bed for a long time. I finally asked for a rollaway to sleep on that that felt so good!
4. 12 days in a hospital so far and I am soooooo tired of the NSTs and being monitored!!! I hate holding still and its all I have in me to hold back the tears when the nurse comes in and says, "ooops, another 20 minutes or so!" It always ends up being at least another hour! :(
5. Ooooh, one of my least favorites, getting my blood drawn every other day! They are keeping track of my blood count to keep an eye out for infection. Those of you who know my blood history know that this is a major traumatic experience for me :) You would be proud to know that I have not passed out once here in the hospital. I am really getting good at it, but do they really have to wake me up at 7AM? It is not the way I prefer to start my day. ;)

Now I am feeling really guilty because of all this complaining. Here are a few things that have been keeping me happy during this lovely stay at Hotel del Stanford...

1. Snack time everyday at 3:00 includes some random snack and 1 dark chocolate covered strawberry. DELICIOUS!! Are you surprised that all it takes is food to brighten my day?
2. Nice Doctors and nurses that I ask probably too many questions to.
3. taking my wheelchair ride to the nursery every day to see the babies...I am so excited to have a little one again!
4. Visits from my husband. We have internet in the room, so he can work from here when he is not taking care of the kids. He is on the phone a lot, but I love just hearing his voice and being close to him. Thanks to our friends and family who are helping with the kids so that Alex can work and not have to take so much PTO!
5. Roses from Alex in my room make my room smell (and look) SO good. There is nothing worse than the smell of stinky hospital!
6. When you are here long enough, they give you a private room, which has been so wonderful!
7. Also, when you are here a while they bring in a "supplemental menu" for food incase I get tired of the regular menu. :)
8. Visits from my kiddos! They are doing so good. When they come to see me it is so fun and they don't cry when it is time to go. That makes me so happy. They are well taken care of and loving all of the friend play dates and daddy time.

I can't go without mentioning the magnesium I was on for 2 days. CRAZY! I am so glad to have had it because it worked!
BUT it was a yucky feeling. I'd love to hear any of your experiences with it. I was as hot as I'll get out and could not move my body at all.

Oh yeah, and the power went out at the hospital on Wed for 10 hours. A small air plane crashed into a power pole, and the whole hospital went into "crisis mode". I felt so bad for the nurses, they were so stressed and tired.

Well, thats all I have for now! Thanks for letting me vent! Love you all!

Seriously? You have GOT to be kidding me...

It seems like those are the things I keep saying to myself lately. Now that I am able to think clearly and make complete sentences, I can tell you the story of the Johnson family over the past few weeks.

A week and a half ago, last monday morning my water broke, 2 months before my due date! I went to my Dr, they sent me to the hospital, and by that evening my contractions were 5 min. apart. :( It was SO SCARY! They put me on magnesium and transferred me to Stanford hospital in an ambulance. Poor Alex had to follow behind the ambulance and he'll tell you that was an experience he doesn't want to have again.

Seriously just writing this down is not fun to remember! It was such a scary day and night and next day!

Anyways, the magnesium worked its magic and stopped my labor, and here I sit almost 11 days later, still in a hospital bed keeping this baby boy or girl in my belly! Yes, we had a few ultrasounds and I told the techs, that I waited this long for a surprise, so please don't tell me if its a boy or a girl! :)

This Sunday I will be 34 weeks and the dr. scheduled me for an induction on Sunday morning at 9 AM! I am so excited to finally have a sweet little baby. It is going to be little too, probably 4 pounds, but the dr. says that after 2 weeks of broken water the baby will be better off outside than inside. We were able to get the full steroid shots while I was on mag, so the baby's lungs will hopefully be developed, plus it is 2 weeks bigger and better!

I am afraid we are still at the begining of this big adventure right now. Baby will be in the NICU for a while and well taken care of here at Stanford hospital. The Drs and neonatologists that come in to talk to me are so optimisitic about the baby being 34 weeks. It still sounds too little to me, but when they ask me how far along I am and I tell them 33 weeks, they make it sound like I am "out of the woods" for sure. Luckily I have great confidence in the doctors here. They have taken such great care of me so far and have one of the best children's hospitals in the nation.

Oh yeah... AND...We bought a house in Arizona and it just closed today! It's official! We were planning on driving down last Wed to sign papers and show the kids, but we stayed here instead and had the papers sent up here. We are so excited to be moving back home and close to family and friends. But we have some amazing friends and family here that we will miss dearly. The ones who are helping us through this time that we couldn't have made it this far without!

OK, this post is long enough, I will write more tomorrow about my adventures on mag, the power going out, and how much I love nurses!