Rox Tate Larsen
Born March 11, 2009
6 pounds 9 oz
19 inches

Welcome to the world Rox!

Rox was born at 9:39 am on March 11th! He had somewhat of a complicated birth as he aspirated amniotic fluid and his cord was around his neck when they pulled him out with the vacuum extractor. He was not breathing well and was admitted to the NICU where he was intubated and placed on meds for secretions. He didnt like the intubation much and yanked it out on Wednesday night. He was breathing well by that time so the docs decided to leave it out and get him healthy and ready to go home. He spent 3 days in the NICU and came home on Saturday March 14. He is a very well behaved baby, doesnt cry much and when he does its very quiet. He eats every 3 hours and gets up 2 times a night. Shelby isnt such a huge fan of her little brother yet, she is definitly not used to sharing the spotlight. I started back to work on March 23 and am taking little Rox with me until he is old enough to start daycare at Shelby's school. Luckily he is very good at the office, not many people even know he is here and he sleeps for the majority of the day. Shelby is glad to be back at school, she missed her friends and her routine, as did I ;) Things are going well at the Larsen homestead and we are so happy to have Rox with us!

Its Time!!

Well folks, it looks as if the time has come for me to say goodbye to my HUGE belly and hello to my baby boy. I must admit, its kind of sad that I wont be trucking him all over the place with me and he wont be a silent force anymore. This picture is probably the last one that will be taken of a pregnant me in this lifetime so suck it up ;) My family and my life will change forever tomorrow night - which is a great thing but scary in and of itself. I will post pics of new baby Rox when he gets here, wish me luck!

Getting ready for Rox!!!

We are currently in the process of getting the house ready for little Rox, since he is due in under 8 weeks! Shelby has been doing lots of artwork all over the house and so in an effort to curb this habbit, I found tub crayons at Walmart and am trying to train her to only color on the tubby. Shockingly, this is not an overly successful method. We thought that all of the crayons were out of her possession but that little stinker has stashes of hidden writing materials all over the house. She also does her wall art in inconspicuous locations, such as behind door and curtains. We had to put a lock on the midget door between Rox's and her room because she has been decorting his walls also. The smart little bugger somehow jimmied the lock open and got into the room anyway. I havent even figured out how she did it, remains a mystery. We put up the crib, took out all of the toys, put up shelves for the Mr Potato Head collection that Gary has started for Rox and bought a crib mattress with sheets. I am getting more excited as the days pass, but I am a little worried about the baby being born. Its easy when they are inside the tummy. They dont cry, they eat what you eat, no diapers to change, no baths to give and no reason to get mad at the husband for his lack of baby attention (or should i say my perception of his lack of attention). I am trying to get ahead at work so that the time off after the baby is born isnt so stressful, this never works. Maybe I should be focusing on more positive things - like not being freakin fat anymore ;) Yeah right, easier said than done!!!

Exhausted!!

I now have 85 days left until the new baby is here. All I can say is that I am exhausted and so is the rest of my family. Lately I cannot sleep whether its due to being way uncomfortable, having to pee every hour or having insane nightmares/dreams. I think that Christmas and New Years took everything I had left and now there is no more energy. Shelby continues to amaze me every day. She told me that the baby was in Wall-E. The reason that she thinks this is because Wall-E sounds like Belly and we keep telling her the baby is in the belly. Its hillarious to hear her say that the baby is in Wall-E, she truly thinks this is the case and will go get her Wall-E robot and show us. Her newest word is "licious", as in "that choclut is licious". Not everything she eats gets this type of praise, thats for sure. She is also one of the best mess makers known to man. It takes her a matter of minutes to empty every single toy bin in her room, its impressive to say the least. My discipline skills as a mother have drastically gone down hill in the last month. When Shelby is naughty, I really dont care. In all honesty, I dont have the energy to do anything about it, not to mention that if I do get mad I just have to console the child anyway and thats a pain. If she does something really bad I just call Gary upstairs and he takes care of it - terrible parenting, I know, but I just cant do much more right now. I hope everyone had a good Holiday season, my next blog probably wont be until I am ready to pop this kid out and may not be the most positive thing to read ;)

Hello new baby boy!!!

Shelby is super excited about our new addition!! We just had the ultrasound yesterday and found out that it is "definitly a boy" (as the doctor stated). I wasnt sure how to take this news because I am dreading having to buy all new clothing for our last child. Shelby currently has 15 bins of clothes packed into the basement and she isnt even 3 yet. I am also scared of boy parts, havent ever had to deal with them ;) Shelby is calling the baby "my baby" and I think she kind of gets it that I have a baby in my belly. Gary gave his usual response to the news, "I said it was going to be a boy so I am not surprised" - even though he had no idea. Its going to be fun to start buying boy toys, heaven knows he doesnt want to play with all of Shelb's Disney Princess crap. We have decided on a name that could still be changed, Rox Tate Larsen. I think it is awesome, not a normal everyday name for sure and one that represents some very successful people. We were trying to get Shelb to say Rox last night but what came out sounded more like the F word than anything else ;) Yay for babies!!

My toddler

Shelby has recently become extremely posessive of EVERYTHING. Today at school she took over a huge pumpkin and decided that it was her pumpkin. She didnt want anyone to touch the pumpkin, look at the pumpkin, talk about the pumpkin or hug the pumpkin. She started yelling and crying because she was so upset at the other kids. I asked her teacher if this happens a lot. She said, "it happens more than it doesnt". Apparently Shelb has a major problem with sharing, hopefully the fetus will help her with this. I asked the director if Shelb's behavior is normal, she told me that its just a stage. Lately everything is Shelby's. "my mommy, my puppy, my bed, my bread, my nilk, my tv, my baby, my blankie, my bottle, my car, my daddy, my lin, my kylo, my apple, my pumpkin, my nana" and on and on. Why are toddlers so narcissistic? I dont remember acting like Shelb when I was 2 ;)

sad news

Shelby's face last wednesday says it all. We found out that Gary's mom had passed away at 3am that morning. The stroke that she had suffered was too massive and damaging to come back from and her heart and body could just not heal. I have not cried this hard in 11 years, since the death of my dad. DeeAnn was a mother to me above all things and she loved Gary and I no matter what the circumstances. She was so very proud of her granddaughter, Shelby, and begged us to visit more often. Now more than ever, I wish we had. Her death was so unexpected and such a shock to all of us. Although Shelby is only 2 and a half, she knew what happened and she cried all week. Whenever she saw me crying she ran to the bathroom and brought back a roll of toilet paper to wipe my eyes with. She hugged me and kissed me and asked me what was wrong. Gary hasnt spoken much about the passing of his mom but he is hurting very much. The support and love from our ward, friends and family has been very much appreciated. DeeAnn was a mother, friend, wife, sister and grandmother that will be sorely missed.

I don't know what to say

On Sunday night Gary and I recieved a phone call stating that Gary's mom, DeAnn, had been rushed to the hospital after falling in the house shortly after returning from a trip to California. We were told that she was unable to move and unable to speak. We waited for more news and ended up going to the hospital at 1am to see her. The outlook, we were told, was grim as she had suffered a stroke due to an occluded artery in the base of the brain. CT and MRI scans showed that her right hemisphere was mostly dead due to the lack of oxygen. She was also found to be a diabetic and heart tests showed a weakened cardiovascular system. Surgery was not an option as her combination of health problems precluded any intervention at the time. She was responsive to us on Sunday night, however, on Monday afternoon she was much less aware of things. Her eyes are closed and she is on oxygen. She will squeeze your hand if you tell her to, but cannot respond in any other way. The prognosis at this point is poor and it looks like we all just have to wait and see what happens. In the event that she comes out of this, she will be paralyzed on the left side and much less cognizant than she was. She probably wont be able to talk and possibly wont be able to open her eyes. Gary's family, friends, and anyone who has ever had the pleasure of knowing DeAnn is devastated by this unfortunate turn of events. I really don't know what to say at this point in time. It is so hard to see everyone so very upset and heartbroken that we may lose one of the most giving, caring and wonderful people I have ever had the pleasure to know. DeAnn has always been so loving and unconditional to me, it already feels like a huge loss. Losing a parent is the hardest thing I have ever had to go through in my life. The pain and emptyness that you feel in their absence is inexplainable. Please keep DeAnn and her family in your prayers,
Jackie.

The hitting problem

Today when I dropped Shelby off at school her teacher pulled me aside and told me that Shelby has a problem with hitting other kids. Its not just a once a day thing, she apparently does it ALL the time. Over the weekend she smacked gary in the face and tried to claw out his eyeball so I can't say that I am surprised by this. The problem seems to be that she struggles communicating with us due to her language skills which are still developing. She must feel the same frustration at school with the kids that are her age - they are able to talk in sentences. I think that its due to all of her ear infections as a baby into year 1. I asked the teacher what I should do about it and she told me not to laugh when she does it. Ok, anybody that knows me knows that I have a hard time not laughing about everything. I am also supposed to hold her arms down and tell her "no" while making eye contact. I am sorry, but I just dont see this working. The little pill just smiles at me and runs away. I think she knows she is doing something that she isnt supposed to do but she is getting a reaction - whether good or bad - and she likes the attention. Gary and I are going to have to make a concerted effort to stop her hitting because I dont like getting talked to at school by the teacher, it sucks.

Feed that Fetus!!

Well another fiscal year is coming to an end and as we say around this time, "happy new year!". I have been working my b-u-t-t off and am SICK of working to say the least. When I get my bonus next month it will be going into savings so that I can take off a measly 2 months for maternity leave. Sometimes being a working mom sucks, but I like the time to myself and I feel like Shelby is learning so much at school that I would be too lazy to teach her at home. I have been feeling rather crappy this week. I think its the stress from work, they hound us in the end of the fiscal year and all I can think about is my production numbers. We built a deck last weekend and are finishing the back yard in the mext 2 weeks so I have been busy at home also. Hopefully I get a picture of the fetus sometime soon so that I can post it on here. I will update on Shelby later!

I'm your buckaroo, I wanna be like you!!

Little Pony Pictures are here!! Shelby had her picture taken with a pony at school and does every year. Last year she was deathly afraid of the pony and wouldnt get on. This year she was seriously stoked about the pony and didnt want to get off. There are 3 different poses, this is the close up that my phone didnt make look totally blurry. You can see the pony in the other 2 and she has pigtails in one of them and not the hat. I bought the negatives so that I can have copies made. If anyone would like to put in a request, I will do my best to get them to you by Christmas ;) I cant even begin to explain how proud I am of these pictures!! My shelb is so photogenic and gave a nice big smile for all of us. Love you shelby!!

Legacy AWESOME-way!!!!

So on Monday evening after a really really crappy day at work I hit the road at about 5:45 to head home. I got on I-15 from Beck Street and expected traffic to suck as it has for the past 4 years. To my surprise, I flew through Bountiful, Centerville and Farmington with no problem and at a consistent speed of 65-70 mph! This morning it took me longer to get to work

than it took me to get home on Monday! I have not gotten home from SLC in 45 mins for 4 years, since I started working out here. I saw a story on the news last night about all the dead raccoons on the Legacy parkway and I think its worth the dead animals, that may sound bad but I'm not an environmentalist or anything ;) They also said that with less raccoons there will be more birds that can survive in the "wetlands" - so I guess its a catch 22 depending on if you like raccons or birds. I personally dont really care for either of them because one of them steals your food when you are camping and the other one craps on your clean car. I love the legacy!!! It has already improved my relationship with shelby lyn because by the time we get home she isnt tired and mad like usual. Yay!!

happy birthday to mwah!!

Hi everybody, I have been getting questions lately as to what I am doing for my b-day and if I am having a party or whatnot. To answer all yers questions: no party, no whatnot. I am very depressed about turning...brace yourself....28 years of age. Maybe its the overload of progesterone, maybe its the fatness that I feel like everyday, maybe its the super fatigue that has smitten me. Not sure why but I'm def not excited about my b-day this year. Usually bdays are cool and I get way stoked about them, not so this time around. Gary has to work tomorrow on my bday night, which makes me want to ignore the bday anyways. Thanks to all of you that have said sweet things for my bday and special shout out to Lyn/Kyle for the Juno CD and trav/dani for the kickA card and andes mints! All presents are preciated!

SKELETOR BABY!!!

Yes, that is the baby's face that you can see in the above picture. Looks like a baby skeletor from castle grayskull! My doctor thought it was the funniest picture ever so she printed me one out and I scanned it into my computer. Although its kind of creepy, I cant stop looking at it! I put it on my phone as the wallpaper and Shelby was royally ticked that her picture wasnt on there anymore. I have recently been thinking about this new child and wondering if I will be able to love it as much as I love my Shelb. I love to spoil her and dress her cute and primp her hair, hopefully I will be the same with skeletor ;)

The big girl bike!!

Well shelby is officially 2 and a half now and is such a cute little girl! We decided it was high time we bought her a trike so we trucked on over to Walmart to check out the goods. Shelby sat on about ten different trikes until she settled on the good old Radio Flyer - pink and purple and a beautiful piece of work! As you can see from the pictures she hasnt quite gotten the hang of it yet, maybe its because her legs are short. She had lots of fun pushing it around the driveway instead of riding it. The newest addition to the Shelby vocabulary is, "oh gosh". I am not sure where she got it but its the cutest thing in the world to hear. Shelby has also started playing the piano daily and singing right along with her made up tunes. She flips through the hymn book and acts like she is playing every page, its quite entertaining. Now that the weather has cooled off a bit I am going outside later at night and taking the shelb on walks. Its so nice to get out of the house, it has been one heck of a hot summer! To update you all on the fetus, it is doing well and not making me as sick as it was a few weeks ago. I still struggle with how much to eat before I feel like crap. I am also finding that a few sips of Dr Pepper every half our or so makes my tummy feel much better. For all of you that want to lecture me on drinking caffeine while pregnant, I really dont care right now. I didnt drink anything but water with Shelby and she is still crazy and off the wall. I am just doing what the fetus tells me to ;)

getting better!!

For the last few weeks I have been feeling rather bad for myself and have had a rather bad attitude about being pregnant. I was SO happy when I found out that we were expecting, that only lasted about a week though. The nausea set in, the puking began and the extreme fatigue started to take over my life. I have somewhat of a recollection of this happening last time, although it started much earlier and was much worse. I have been stewing for the past few weeks about the meaning of life. I have been asking myself, "I go to work, I come home and I go to bed. Then I do it all again the next day. Whats the point?". I know, super bad attitude. This week I came into work to find a sign taped to my computer screen that was basically a word of advice from my friends to buck up. Of course I was annoyed at first but then began to realize that I am taking this much to seriously. The meaning of life is whatever we make it!!! The answer came to me today! My growing fetus and my 2 year old child are unique and special individuals that will only be conceived and born ONE time! They will only live this life ONE time! Its my responsibility (and one I should be grateful for) to raise them the best I can so that they can experience what life is all about. I imagine that one day my little Shelby will come to me when she is 9 weeks pregnant and sick as a dog and ask me "what is the meaning of life?". And I will say to her, "you are the meaning of life, my children are the meaning of life". And hopefully with that answer the puking and the nausea will seem insignificant, if only for a moment. I have gotten way to wrapped up in how I feel lately, which may be hormonal, and have forgotten that this is an experience I should treasure. As long as I have people that support me and tell me everything will be alright, I will believe it ;)

The bullshiz BMI chart!

pregorexia...

For about the last week I have been stewing about something that my FNP said to me on my first prenatal visit. She said, "just so you know, you only have about 5 or 10 pounds left to gain with this pregnancy so you should probably start exercising or something." I was stunned! As I sat there in disbelief I thought to myself, "what the crap does she know?". Apparently on the bullshiz BMI chart I am in the overweight category- barely. I lost a ton of weight this year, I was down to 155 just one month ago when I found out I was carrying my 2nd little bundle of joy. I have not done anything differently, I have exercised and eaten well, I am just getting a little bit fluffier is all. I told my friend about this bad experience and she sent me an email about "pregorexia". Go ahead and google it my friends, it is real. The definition is something like caring too much about your weight and physical image more than your growing fetus to the level that you actually cause your child malnutrition and low birth weight. Clearly this is a mental thing that carries over to a physical problem. Now I am not professing to be a skinny little prego girl but I certainly dont think of myself as a fatty patty either. I care about my child getting nourishment and therefore I eat 6 small meals a day and drink TONS of water. If that causes me to be in the overweight category then so be it, I would rather have a healthy child and lose the weight later, which I know I can do because I have done it. I took a sideview pic of myself today so that you could all see my "overweight" and hot bod! LMK what you think about my FNP's comment!