Memorial Day & After

Ethan and Bella's little bundle of joy is doing great. He came home from the hospital today.

Welcome home!

This cute little man's name is Alvin Prior Wride, and he'll go by Alvie. Super cute. We're planning to get everyone together this weekend before Joseph and Eliza leave. It will be fun to see the size difference between Alvie and little Mary!

I took a ride to the ruins this evening. I had to hurry so I could get back before Corey had a meeting, so I was working hard and riding from home I made it to the ruins in 1 hour an d4 min and 40 seconds, woo! That is a good score. Usually our good score is 1:09, and our slow time is 1:20. 

I went by Costco today and got the vitamins that Dr. Smith recommended. The D3 with K2 was almost 30 dollars though! Boo... Abi took Owen to soccer practice before she went to the yearbook stomp and to hang out with friends for one last time. She flies out tomorrow morning for Brazil. Leaving here around 5:30, flight leaves at 7:30. Then I picked Owen up. Owen is goalie in the pic below. 

Things are wrapping up with soccer season and school and I'm glad. This month has been a whirlwind. I'm looking forward to things hopefully slowing down and maybe I will catch up on cleaning and the blog. I've been behind, evidenced by my Memorial Day bullet point notes from yesterday: 

• Oh wow, ok, here we are 9 days since my last post. Gotta catch up. But as my last post said, things are busy. 
• E & B baby last night. I was pretty worried about them, but junior is here and he's super CUTE!!

• ALSN are out shopping. A is leaving for Brazil on Wednesday morning. 
• House is kinda a mess
• I went bouldering at 2 pm. Woke up at 5:30, was going to go on a ride this am, but thought I'd wait for Corey. so slept until 6:30, he didn't get up until 9:30, so that kinda ruined my morning. I should have just gone, but I didn't want him to wake up and have me be not be here and have him feel abandoned again, since I was gone for most of the day yesterday down in Orem for the baby's birth. 
• Corey seems to be in his cave, so I'm just trying to leave him alone and keep our bedroom locked so kids stay out and he can be left alone and get his "stuff done". 
• OPK playing with friends, O at Afton's, PK at Lucy's. House is quiet. D here doing homework. I have a moment to blog. 4:24 pm
• One more week of school. I'll be glad when it's done! I'm excited to have my mornings free.

Grandbaby Wride #2

Bella and Ethan's baby boy was safely delivered tonight! He is so sweet! 

7 pounds 5 ounces, 41 weeks and 2 days, Bella is a trooper. This little guy arrived all natural - no epidural, no induction, I'm super impressed. And he has a cool birthday too: 5 - 25 - 25! Ethan was hoping he'd be born at 5:25, but that's ok. Bella was having contractions for a good part of the day yesterday, and then we woke up to a text this morning that they went into the hospital at 4am. She was dialated to a 5 and 80% effaced. So I was checking my phone all during church, certain he would be here any moment. I drove down to Utah county after church so I could be on hand should they need any moral support. Lily came with me. We sat in the waiting room, but eventually wanted a place to stretch out, so we went outside to lay down on the grass for an hour. Then we moved from there and both napped in the car for another hour. Joseph and Eliza and baby Mary are in town for a funeral tomorrow, and they have been with Eliza's family. They went to Springville for a missionary farewell or something today. When they were done, they said they were going to stop by home to show Mary to the kids, so when we saw them on their way north, Lily and I decided to head home too. Bella was still in labor, hadn't progressed much over the past two hours. At home, we had fun looking at Mary. Sophi had a bit of a sore throat and stayed home from church, so she was banished to the upstairs and no one could hold Mary that had been around Sophi, which was everyone at our house. Mel and Christian came up too, and luckily for Mel, she was not on that list. 

Mel's facial expressions showed how we all felt. Excited for the hand off of this little masterpiece.- 

Mel knows she's holding one of God's greatest creations. Mary is a gem!

Christian had a turn too. Then back to Mel. 

Joseph was super cute with Mary. Corey asked Eliza "Does he share with you??" haha. Then I got a call from Bella's mom that she was heading to the hospital. She was about an hour and 45 min away. I decided to head down too. We were both actually worried there was a problem and Bella would need a c-section, but when we got there Ethan texted that he could see the head and that Bella was pushing. Lisa and I visited for an hour after that the news finally came "He's here"!! Actually Ethan texted "He's out" haha. He sent us a few pics and Lisa and I were just sitting together on a bench outside texting updates to all the siblings and great grand parents and in-laws. We were waiting to go see them, then thought they probably would like dinner, so we went to Sprouts Market to buy them some food and when we came back we were able to go to their room and see their little guy. So so so so cute!!!!

Oh my goodness he is adorable.

So so fun. What a miracle. 

Lisa took pics of me. Bella was changing from the labor and delivery room to her bedroom suite, so she was not in this pic. Seems wrong for her to do all that work and then to not be in the photos. But, here are me and Ethan proudly showing off little baby Wride ~

All our hard work has paid off, haha (but not our hard work, it was all Bella.)

Eating his little hands!

Ethan holding his little man. 

Just a few more pics... 

I texted this one to all the kids. 

Such a cutie! Lisa and I are very happy grandmas!!

Happy day. Happy BIRTH day to you, little cute baby! 

Summer Birthday

School gets out for the elementary kids next Friday. We're almost there. Owen's teacher celebrated his summer b-day yesterday in class. His teacher is Ms. Snow (she was Natalie's teacher too), and she's really great.

The kids all wrote things on the board that they like about Owen. I see "soccer"!!!

Yesterday Corey and I went to Draper Aubergine for date night after Corey got back with Lily from Blue Note Band. I thought we'd go climbing after dinner, but we didn't, so I doubled up today - went on a ride this morning and did top rope tonight at 7pm. Lily bouldered with a friend while Corey and I did top rope, and then Corey went to the gym for a minute and I joined Lily and Ben. Lily was working on a  blue V2 that I had tried before but never gotten yet, I tried it this time and got it! Then a Blue V3 on short slab, aaaaand a new V4! Yellow one, my 2nd one ever! Yay!

Bulk clean up is next week. We did nothing to get ready for it. We do nothing on most Saturdays. No housework, no yardwork. Maybe Corey and I are getting old, or just giving up?

Maybe I'll push hard on Monday and clear some stuff out. Joseph and Eliza are in Idaho with Eliza's family before her Grandma's funeral, which will be on Monday.

I Went to the Doctor

So, I had some good news that I was going to share in a few months, but now I don't have good news. The news was going to be that I was expecting. I found out early on Mother's Day last week. I was super excited and felt like the luckiest woman alive. I'll let myself explain in these thoughts that I recorded that morning ~

I am writing this part of the post in real time (5/11 at 7 am) but I'm not going to post it to the blog for a few weeks/months, until after news of our news gets out. The news, that Corey doesn't know about yet, is that we are expecting. I should have started my cycle last Monday. I thought I had some spotting twice, but then nothing else happened. I had one pregnancy test that I bought prob a year ago. I decided that I would take it this morning. I woke up on my own and laid there for a minute, then looked over at the clock across the room to see the time. And it was 4:28 am. That made me smile and warmed my heart. I thought it was a sign that I was going to get what I wanted! As I got up, I also thought "Well, maybe God is telling me he loves me, even though I am not going to get what I want..." We'd know in just a moment... and it was positive. I knelt down and thanked Heavenly Father for his miracle. God willing, if I don't miscarry, I will be due Jan 12, so I can be induced on Jan 5 at 39 weeks. I was really hoping a few months ago that I'd get an October or November baby, cause we don't have any birthdays in those two months, but we'll take what the Lord giveth, and I am so so grateful that He has been so generous with me. 

So those were my thoughts last week, and then the whole week went so slow, and I was feeling like 40 weeks is going to take forever... but it's ok, it will be worth it. Then Monday morning, I had some spotting. Then a little more, it was happening all day, not enough to soak a liner but enough that every time I wiped after using the bathroom I was concerned. I felt well enough that Corey and I went climbing and did top rope that night (my 600th activity on Strava!). Corey gave me a priesthood blessing later that night. On Tuesday morning, I thought I might go to the temple for 5 am initiatories, but I was going to play it by ear. I woke up to my alarm, went to the bathroom, more bleeding, and then I got really light headed and I almost passed out in the bathroom. I did black out and I couldn't see, but I was holding myself up in the door frame until my sight returned. I was just inhaling as much as I could to get oxygen to my brain. I didn't know what the blackout meant or why that happened. I laid back down and tried to decide if I should wake Corey. I thought maybe I had an ectopic pregnancy? That was on my radar since my little sister had one years ago, and since I was lightheaded and almost fainted. After like 20 min, I did wake him up and we decided to go to the ER. They did an ultrasound and blood test, and there was a yolk sac in there "You're definitely pregnant" and the blood work showed that I was anemic. I knew I usually had to start taking iron when I was pregnant, but maybe my stores are low since I'm getting older and so the anemia kicked in early? Maybe that's why I almost fainted. I took some iron when I got home. They told me to follow up with my doctor in 48 hours to see if my numbers are going up or down. If they go down then I've miscarried. I rested most of the day, but also felt a lot better after the iron kicked in. Mel came up and took over mom roles for me. I still was bleeding quite a lot. In a moment of wanting to go outside and get some movement, and cause it needed to be done, I decided to mow the lawn. After that I went to use the bathroom and felt something pass - it looked like some tissue. I thought that that might have been the yolk sac they saw in the ultrasound. I guess that's it and bed rest is not going to help me, so I went on with my day and went on a ride up to the ruins later that night. The Indigo Girls song Closer to Fine played and I was kinda making a checklist for myself: I went to the doctor, I went to the mountains, I looked to the children, I drank from the fountains. I drank from the creek up at the ruins, and said I'd checked the four boxes that point me in a crooked line. It was good for my mental health. I was obviously disappointed that I had miscarried (99% positive I had). I didn't cry though, I felt at peace and ok and like I was doing good. Picking up Katharine from a ride with Corey (she was done - not getting sleepy this time, just wanted to be done) then Corey finished his ride and I left for my ride at 6:20pm. 

Today I went to the doctor for my 48 hour follow up. They didn't do any ultrasound, but I told him I'd been bleeding since Monday and was pretty sure I'd miscarried. They drew some blood and we'll see how my numbers compare to the blood draw at the ER. I brought my bike in the van so I could go on a ride after and do those four things again. Doctor (check) and then I went to the mountains (Corner Canyon this time). I looked to the children I have been given. Even if we don't have another (I know I'm pushing my luck at 49 years old), I know God has been generous to me with these 13 great kids that I have been given. How many people get 13 kids?!? God has been abundantly generous to me. So I was out there on a ride for an hour and 45 minutes, just taking my time. I started at the Coyote Trailhead, went up Anns but then turned down to BST, then up Lexi & Ethan to get to Potato Hill. Then across Ann's,  Upper Rush is currently closed for maintenance, so I went around to Ghost Falls, which was the only place where I could drink from the fountains. I intentionally went out of my way to go to Ghost Falls so I could do that part - took a pic on the bridge that goes over the little Ghost Falls stream. 

After that I turned back up Canyon Hollow and took Brocks where I was able to connect to Rush via Fly by Night, which took me to Rush Trees. That part of Rush was open, as was lower Rush. They've put some new jumps on Rush which I'm sure I would like if I could do jumps, but today it just freaked me out. Now I have to be even slower and more careful so I don't rocket launch and crash land and hurt myself. So yeah, so that was my news. This is my 3rd miscarriage. My first was in Costa Rica in 2010, between Lily and Sophi. That was at 10 weeks, and I didn't blog it, not totally sure of the date at this moment... I could go look in my old calendars but it was on a beach day with the Stouts. I'll have to look and see if I have a journal or calendar entry somewhere. Second miscarriage was between Peter and Katharine in Jan 2020. As usual, with this one I was pretty excited and I told Joseph and Eliza first, cause he was following up with me cause I gave him a teaser when he took me to the airport in Ohio. So when he called on Mother's Day, I told him I was expecting, then told him today I'm not. It would have been so fun to have a sibling that is younger than your child, ha! Or we thought we could have them all go to school together, and people would ask "oh, are you brother and sister?" and they'd be like "No, he's my uncle!" or "She's my niece!" Would have been so so fun. Maybe it will still happen, although I know I'm pushing my luck being 49 years old here. I'll hold on to hope though, cause I do feel like I was told 14 kids, so we'll see. 

Mary is Home

Little Mary is home from the hospital! She was discharged from the NICU and now they are home!

So little! She pulled out her feeding tube on Tuesday, so the nurses said they'd just see how she did, and Mary drank all her bottles, and that was the last hurdle that she had to clean. She's over 4 pounds, is over 36 weeks gestation, and now she's eating on her own, so she got the clear. Good job Mary! She was in the NICU for 3 and a half weeks. There is a funeral on Monday in Salt Lake that they've been toying with coming out for, but they didn't know if Mary would be out of the NICU. And now they are still seeing how they feel about bringing her on an airplane and stuff, so we'll see, but if they do come out, we'll see them next week! Sweet little Mary! Welcome home. 

Lily had a concert tonight in Provo with her Blues Band. I thought that would be the last of it for her, but she still has band this Friday and maybe next Friday too. I'll be glad when that is not happening on Friday and making our date night so late, but it's been good for her and I'm glad that Corey tries so hard to find and give the kids opportunities like this.

FHE Wii

For FHE tonight we played the Wii and ate ice cream. It was mandatory to play, so I had to play too. It was Smash Bros, which I totally do not get nor understand. 

But I did it. I played my round and then I was done. Not much in the mood for it, nor have I ever been. But the kids liked it. It's an easy enough FHE activity and the kids were all happy with it, so yay. What else has been going on... I'm still kinda trying to potty train Katharine. She wakes up dry, she sits on the potty and watched youtube videos. We always start with this "Who is ready to sit on the potty?" Lellobee video, and then she just sits there and watches whatever she clicks to after that, until she whines for me to come fix it cause she clicked on an ad and the movie is gone, and after an hour there is no pee in the potty. So not sure how to fix that. She puts in her time though? And she has a good attitude about it. 

I think she needs more fluids. She's still enjoying cup stacking (and bowl and plate...)

 

Some pics the kids took on my phone yesterday - Hello Owen. He's the tannest kid in our family. He's always outside playing sports. 

And he's almost always got a baseball cap on his head. Lily spends a lot of her time reading and drawing. 

Abi, chillin' in the side room. These were from yesterday. They were probably bored and waiting for us to turn on a movie.

Daniel was working hard yesterday making paper airplanes of all sizes. 

Peter and Katharine were paying close attention. Daniel's always teaching them new things! Corey visiting with Hyrum on the phone, Lily and I listening in and laughing. They are funny.

And today Google suggested a "Tiffanie and Wesley" photo album. I took a screenshot of the collection of photos. I miss Wes! I'm excited for when he comes home. We're on the downhill, just 6 more months! That will go by fast.

Crazy Busy

Today was about as crazy and busy as I had anticipated. I woke up early to some thunder, which made me think it was raining and thus too wet for a ride. That is the only thing I would have changed - I would have taken that personal time for a ride, cause it wasn't raining, it was just thunder. But instead of checking out the weather outside, I slept in a little bit, then read my scriptures, and made oatmeal. Corey left for a ride around 7:30, but I said I'd stay behind cause Owen had a soccer game at 9. The rest of the day looked like this: 

• 8:30 - leave for Owen game
• 9 - 10 I stay and watch game, Owen was sad and frustrated, they lost 7-4
• 10:20 arrive home
• 10:30 back to store with Owen to get dessert for Trumpet recital
• 11 - make dessert for trumpet recital and violin spring concert tonight, LSN all help, with ODPK looking on. Too many cooks in the kitchen
• desserts took longer to cook than I expected, we left a little late to Owen's recital, I have NODPK
• 12:55 arrive at recital. My mom came, which was so nice! I know she has a busy day too, so nice of her to come. 
• Owen is the 10th number in the recital. I take a video of him. 

• After O is done, Peter asks when Owen is playing, I say he just did, Peter is sad that he missed it and is sad and clingy through the rest of the performances. K is being kinda nuts and noisy, luckily my mom brought some fruit snacks, that helped us survive
• Trumpet studio group pic

• My kids enjoy the refreshments after the recital
• Hurry home for Daniel's soccer game. Get bday presents ready for O and P's bday parties
• Corey is taking Abi to her concert, I have to take Peter to a bday party, so I ask a neighbor who has a son on Daniel's team if Daniel can tag along with them, they said yes. 
• Corey takes Daniel and Abi, drops Daniel off at neighbors, then takes Abi downtown
• I get P ready for his party, then as I look up the address, I notice that it says that it ends at 3:30,!!! It goes from 2-3:30, ahh! I had it on my calendar as starting at 3:30. This was at 2:50. I tell Peter to hurry and grab his shoes, I'll drive him there (700 E and 33rd south, 22 minute drive) and maybe he'll be able to catch the last 10 minutes.
• Talk to Nicole on my drive to try and reduce my cortisol levels
• Stay at the party for 30 min

• Peter bought two minifigures with his money (from tooth fairy and easter bunny), good job Peter!

• Oh, and at this time Natalie was at home watching kids
• Corey arrives back home, I come back home, Daniel comes back home. They won their game 7-4. I said "Hey! That was the same score as in Owen's game!"  

• I take Owen to his bday party
• Back at home, I go in our room and lock the door, I collapse on the floor for a moment, I need a break, I try to decide if I want to stay here and breathe, or go on a short hike, a short bike ride, or go bouldering. Decide for a very short bike ride up the canyon
• I come back at 6:30 to take LSNDPK to Holladay
• Drop Lily off at a Seminary graduation thing
• Take SNDPK to Sophi and Natalie's violin spring concert at 7. 
• As they tune their violins, I am texting the mom at Owen's party to see if they can give him a ride home cause I won't be there when the party ends at 8. They say they can give him a ride home, but don't want him to be at our home alone, so he's ok to stay until I'm back
• Corey leaves to go watch Abi's concert downtown. We listen to the violin concert.

• Refreshments after the violin concert. Too much sugar for everyone today...

• Take Sophi to a friend's house, she gets a ride home with friend Kesly.
• Head home, turn on Ratatouille for the kids at home.
• Leave to go pick up Owen, visit with the mom and dad there for like 20 min (they always invite me in but I usually need to run off somewhere)
• Take Owen home later than I planned, hurry to Momentum to boulder from 9:30 until they close at 10. 
• Back home, Corey is home, read scriptures. It has been a full day
• Abi goes to pick up Lily. Abi took my phone, so I just figured I'd wait for a bit here and type this up while we wait for them to return before we got to bed. 

So that was my day. MAYCEMBER indeed. As I was prepping myself last night for the run around of today, I didn't know Lily had the seminary end of year thing or that Abi's concert and rehearsal went from 3:30 - 9:30. But we have fought a good fight, there are only two more weeks of school. Owen has a field trip on Monday (I am not going as a volunteer) but other than that, I think we're done with concerts, recitals, programs and performances? Let me double check the calendar... Oh, still have Sophi's ballroom performance on Wednesday, and that's it. Abi is going to Brazil on the 27th. Joseph and Eliza are coming out this weekend for Eliza's grandma's funeral. The kids are so excited to meet little Mary!! Last soccer games for Owen and Daniel are on May 31st, we take treats to that game, and that is also Katharine's birthday, so yeah, two more weeks and we will have survived Maycember and another academic year will be in the books. Oh! And Melodie ran a half marathon this morning in Ogden! I guess that's what happens when you date a runner!

Christian ran the marathon, but came back and ran the last mile with Mel. Some of her college friends came to cheer her on too. 

Summer will be busy with camps, FSY, a Hibbert reunion at Bear Lake and the Wride reunion in Park City. That will be really fun because of the two new grandbabies that will be part of the family this year. Ethan and Bella are expecting their little boy to arrive any day. Bella was 40 weeks yesterday. She is going all natural and is prepping herself for a 41 weeker! We are just waiting for the word that they are on their way to the hospital. So that is exciting,  and we are praying that all goes well.

Patriotic Program

Owen had his 4th grade program today. Owen let me know he was on the left, so I headed to that side when I arrived and took a pic of him. 

This is one I get to go to every year. It is popular cause we have an amazing school community with super supportive parents, and cause it is a combined program with two grades - 4th and 5th. I am experience with I was here last year with Natalie, and the year before that with Sophi, and 2022 when Soph was in 4th, etc etc going back in time, and we'll be here next year when O is in 5th, and in 2027 when D is in 4th, and 2028 when D is in 5th!, and 2029 when Peter is in 4th, and 2030 when Peter is in 5th, etc etc into the future! It was a good program. I always enjoy the song with all the branches of the military, when people who served stand up when their song is sung. It's really powerful. Katharine was perfect and sat sweetly on my lap. It was just Katharine and I, so I was able to ask about a vacant seat I saw open and it was available, and I ended up sitting on the 3rd row! I was so close! (haha compared to other years!) Go me. 

I knew this was a popular event, so I went early enough that I even got a parking stall. A parking spot AND a chair, life is good. They announced awards this year, but only for the 4th grade. The 5th graders were excused to go get their floats ready, so I'm not sure about when they announced the Young American Awards? I wonder if Owen will be interested in getting that next year. He got the Gold Grizzlie award this year. Good job, Owen!

I asked him what he had to do to earn that, he said "I don't know, I didn't even know I was getting it..." Hmm. Well, I know what the Young American requires, so we'll see on that next year. Also, usually they have the partition to the lunch room open, and this year it was shut, so there were a lot of people standing around by the side walls and back. Note to self, maybe even come earlier next year. This year I was there right 15 min before it started. Usually they don't let people back until 10 min before. But they did this year, so yeah, maybe come 20-25 min before it starts next year. K and I took a pic after the program. K holding her rice krispy treat (Two of those helped her stay quiet during the program). 

After that K and I came home, had lunch and watched Cinderella, then went back to pick up Owen at 1:25 to take him to a trumpet rehearsal with the pianist that will be accompanying him tomorrow at his spring recital. He has that tomorrow at 1, and tomorrow we've also got a violin concert for Sophi and Natalie at 7, Abi also has a Lyceum concert at 7, soccer games at 9am (for O) and 3 (for Daniel) and Lily has a concert in Provo tonight at 7 with her Blue's band, so we'll have to have date night tomorrow. Corey is taking Lily down to that. It's end of school year program & concert time, it must be Maycember. 5pm right now. Corey and Lily just left. Boys are playing outside, Sophi is taking a nap behind me on the couch, Natalie is taking care of cats for a neighbor. I might try to sneak out for a ride... or I'll keep blogging and go climbing later. Hmmm. Oh yeah, I'm taking Natalie to a friend's bday party in 30 min, so looks like I'll be waking up Sophi soon and then I'll go climb after dropping her off there.