Everybody's Growing Up Too Fast!

When you're baby isn't even two weeks old yet, it's a little crazy to think he's growing up too fast, but he is.  He's outgrown some clothes already and in my addled, emotional state, I want time to freeze.  It's not just Omar who's growing up.  Ammon has grown up a ton in the week since he got replaced as the baby. He's a cool kid now rather than a baby.

He's very helpful.  He happily takes dirty clothes and dirty diapers and puts them in their place.  I'm really glad I noticed these three smelly diapers and Ammon's dirty pajamas in the dryer before I piled my newly-washed laundry inside.

Ammon's also playing more and more with the big boys.  They all still love cars which makes for some enjoyable sound effects.

Everybody still loves holding Omar.  Liliana is a huge help.  I've been pumping a bottle every day for Omarcito and Lili fed it to him one night.  It's nice to know that's a possibility.  Lili went off with the Johnsons and the Myers three different times this week.  She  loved it.  I missed her.  I'm so spoiled as a homeschooling mom.  I'm glad I usually have my girl with me.

 

This week Ruben was the BYU Police.          

His badge and cap are his uniform.            

            

Marcos loves singing "Hush Little Baby" to Omar.  I recorded it and tried to upload it here, but after two failed attempts, I quit.  I think our internet is not up to speed.

Omar's umbilical cord stump fell off today.  Of course I'm saving it.  Do you have to ask? 

Look Who's Here!

Welcome to the world, baby boy!  I had been praying my water would break and it did on Tuesday morning at 2:25 (PDT).  Edgar and I, despite a few hiccups (low tires on two different cars), rushed to Salt Lake City.  We got there at 7:00 (MDT--that's fun to include) and began our wait for non-emergency, non-scheduled c-sections.  Dr. Draper arrived around 11:00 and our dear Omar Rafael Cobian was born at 12:48 (again MDT--it is Mountain Daylight Time, right?  Correct me if I'm wrong...).  The umbilical cord was tied in a complete knot and wrapped around his neck twice.  That's news to all of you--I forgot to tell anyone that.  We also forgot my bag of dirty clothes and my sandals--left them all at the hospital.  I had to call last night and this morning after them.  I had assumed Edgar had taken the sandals home and I came home in socks and no shoes yesterday.  In sum, I've been forgetful.

Omar, when I finally got out of surgery and got to hold him.  He really is the sweetest baby ever.  He weighed exactly 7 pounds and when they got around to measuring him (it was Thursday) he was 20 inches long.  He is our biggest baby yet.

Edgar, Me, and Sweet Omar--this picture was taken yesterday (Saturday) right before we left the hospital--and several personal belongings--behind.

As soon as we got home, the kids were all fighting over who got to hold Omar first.  They all got a turn, except Ammon.  I got Ammon set up with my nursing pillow and tried to put Omar on his lap.  "No, no, no, no, no."  He did not want to hold his baby brother.  Later I was holding Omar and I asked Ammon if he wanted to touch his head.  "No, no, no, no, no."  This morning as soon as Ammon got up, though, his first question was "Baba?"  Maybe he wondered if Baba's existence was just a bad dream.  I showed him where Ruben was holding Omar, and again Ammon did not want to touch him.  When Edgar and the four big kids got home from church, Ammon wondered about Baba again.  I took him in to where Omar was sleeping and Lili helped him up on a chair so he could peek in.  Omar is sleeping in the bassinet that my Grandma Jaynes used for her five kids and that my mom used for her six kids.  Each of my five kids have used it.

Some of the Cobian Men.  I'm counting on Marcos to break with the wicked Cobian family tradition of not smiling for the camera--especially if you're male.  Maybe that's why we have been blessed with so many boys--so we can break the evil chains that have long held Cobian men captive to cameras.

Ruben will probably help break that chain too.

I'm not sure yet if Omar will be a photo-smiler or not.

I've got a lot of hope in the rest of them though.  Excuse our immodesty.  Lili's favorite pants all have holes in the knees and Ammon didn't mean to show his tummy.

Happy Mother's Day!

I'm having my most maternal Mother's Day ever.  I'm big as a boat and five days away from delivery (unless my prayers are answered and it happens sooner).  Please don't enlarge this picture--there's a reason it's small as can be on here!

Sweet Lili presented me with this corsage she'd made at Activity Day for me.  Edgar had already ironed my maternity dress for the day and even though it didn't quite match the corsage, I had to wear the corsage. 

Then Marcos wondered what happened to his gift.  He had told me repeatedly that he was going to give me a heart necklace for Mother's Day.  This morning he asked me if I knew where that heart necklace was.  I asked him if he'd made me one.  He remembered he hadn't.  He cut off a small piece of green string and brought me a piece of orange paper.  He asked me to cut out a heart.  In retrospect, I wish I'd made the heart a touch smaller.  Marcos was thrilled with the necklace he'd made and told me proudly that I could wear it to church.  I couldn't say no to this sweet boy, and I already looked like a clown, so why not add two more colors?

Ammon has caught the superhero bug that is constantly biting around here.  He insisted on being Superman yesterday.  The suit is way too large.

Very soon the cape became a bib/apron and he looked like a very dopey superhero--but a happy one.

Ammon loves the new cat Liliana got this week--Speckles.  It's the only cat we have now that lets Ammon hold it.

I was planning on my water breaking today right after Sacrament Meeting.  I would have taught Sunday School already, which was my last obligation before our baby comes.  We would have already been in Wells (a half hour closer to the hospital), and really what better Mother's Day present could you have than a painful surgery newborn baby?  I waited around a little after church, but nothing happened.  We had put our luggage in the car (faith without works is dead).  The kids had wanted to know why the suitcase was there.  They were so excited that the baby might come today and that they would get to be at someone else's house.  After church they wondered what had gone wrong....I'm not sure what went wrong, but we're still hoping for sooner rather than later.  If things go as planned, our new addition will be here Friday.  Lili made a chain to count the days down.  We are all so excited to greet our new baby!

Oh, Never Mind!

I am so terrible at technology.  Someone like me should not be allowed to have a blog.  There will be no pictures this week. 

This week we went to Salt Lake.  I had my baby doctor appointment, bought a new (to us--we got it used through ksl.com) double jogging stroller (don't worry--I'm not taking up jogging, those strollers are just the only way to walk with babies on our gravel road), and took the kids to the "This Is The Place" Heritage Park.  Lili was very excited about the petting zoo and the pony rides.  Ruben couldn't have cared less about the animals, but was very excited for the real train on real tracks.  The real train won't be open until Memorial Day, but we got on the train that goes like a car and I asked Edgar to take a picture. 

I had already made Edgar go back to the car for the camera and the stroller and I thought how lovely some pictures of our darling children and their pregnant mother would be on my blog.  Edgar dutifully took the picture and we posed.  Then the camera flashed the warning that there was no card in it.  I was devastated.  I remembered that I had left our camera's card in the computer after my last brilliant blog post that included pictures from my camera.

I was pretty sad, but then I remembered my cell phone.  I have hardly ever taken pictures with my cell phone and I think we ought to keep it that way.  Ruben is not an animal person.  He didn't want to touch any animals--he didn't even want to ride a pony.  Lili and Marcos went on two pony rides each.  Ammon liked the idea of a pony ride, but when we hoisted him up to get on, he clung to Edgar and cried.  He liked the other animals though.  I dutifully took pictures of the kids with my cell phone.  We went to the playground which was more to Ruben's liking.  There were three moms there with their preschool-aged kids.  Ruben took command of the big wooden train that was there.  It was stationary, but that didn't stop Ruben's fertile imagination.  He called "All ABOARD!" to the smaller children and periodically ordered them off the train because of obstacles.  Then he would get out, survey the situation, change the track, or whatever he deemed necessary.  Fortunately the other kids (and their moms) were okay with our school-age train driver calling all the shots.  Marcos found a white cap at the playground and decided he needed to wear it to be the train conductor (we left it where he'd found it and so far, no lice).  Lili kept track of Ammon and played with little girls in the playhouses.  Edgar and I sat on a bench in the shade and enjoyed laughing at our children.  I did get up now and again to take some pictures of them.

That brings us to now.  I just spent a lengthy amount of time trying to access my pictures from my cell phone and upload them to this blog.  I couldn't get it to work.  Maybe it's because I blocked the internet from our cell phones after Ammon got on the internet while playing with my phone.  He racked up charges that we didn't realize we had.  So I have pictures, and I could send them to both of you, my readers, in a text message, but we might rather wait.

Since Ruben was disappointed with the lack of a real train ride (last time he went there, he loved the train so much he decided he would be the new train driver after the lady that was driving that day dies--not that we wish that on her, bless her heart), we ended up getting a year's membership to the park.  We were able to apply that day's admission to our membership and the annual membership wasn't much more than visiting two times would be.  So we will go back to that park.  We'll take our camera (and the card).  I won't be pregnant in the pictures--not a bad thing--and you can see our darling children with animals and trains.  What could be better?

BYU Women's Conference

Our Women's Conference Group:  Hannah, Katie, Caroline, Me, Marianne, & Clarissa

I love BYU.  I graduated from there 12 years ago this summer.  At the time I graduated, my dear cousin Hannah and I were roommates.  This week we reunited as roomies and had the time of our lives as we walked around campus, stayed up late laughing until we cried, and fueled up on inspiration and hope as we attended the great classes at BYU Women's Conference (we cried a lot at those too).  As Hannah and I palled around and ate BYU Creamery ice cream, it was as if no time had passed.  The only difference between those 12 years was that we no longer look like BYU students, I was 34 weeks pregnant and waddling between classes more than racing, and instead of talking about boys and classes and our dreams for the future, we talked about husbands and kids and our dreams for the future.

We had a great Women's Conference group.  Clarissa (my wonderful neice who got to go for the first time and room with her mom and my dear sister Marianne) enthusiastically called us the "best group" of the whole conference.  Katie and her friend Caroline joined us from Boulder, Utah.  As always, Katie was a lot of fun, and her friend Caroline is lovely.  We immediately discovered that we have the same maternity shirt (we are both wearing them in the picture).  Caroline is due a few weeks after I am, but is handling her pregnancy with a lot more grace and patience than I am.  I think she's a very cute pregnant gal, and there's nothing cute about the 80 pounds I've gained!  Note that she and Marianne kindly let me hide behind them in the picture.

We missed my mom, my sister Thelma, and my sisters-in-law, Jennifer and Melanee, at Women's Conference.  They were all busy with more important things.  We look for them to join us next year (except for my mom who will still be serving a mission).  Hannah and I also had to call my cousin and her sister Britta to reminisce about old times and tell her we were thinking of her as we laughed about the crazy things we've done together.

As always, I came home from Women's Conference refreshed, determined to be better, and so excited to be home again with my Edgar and our children.  The kids were all playing outside when I got home--even though it was almost bedtime. 

Yesterday Lili said, "Do you know why we were all outside last night when you came home?"

"No. Why?"

"We were waiting for you.  Everytime a car came (not a real common occurrence here), we thought it was you."

What a happy thing a family is to come home to!

Superman is Back!

Marcos is back!  It is such a relief to have him normal again.  He has lost a little weight, but otherwise he is himself.  It was a long week for all of us.  Everybody watched a lot of Blue's Clues and I held Marcos and read to him so much.  He woke up every night several times.  Ammon, who is used to being the baby, didn't enjoy all the attention Marcos got and tried to sit on my shrinking lap as much as he could.  Marcos has helped me to get ready for having a newborn again.

Finally, on Friday, Marcos started eating normally and acting like himself.  He still woke up several times at night and last night he woke up once.  I refused to carry him (I'm already carrying his little brother) and made him walk to the kitchen to have some medicine and water.  He didn't wake up again.  He's enjoyed the attention and command he's had on the household.  One day he demanded that Ruben not play in the toy room.  He's also been able to eat and drink in the family room, where we made him a special bed.  One day I was so desperate to get him to eat something--anything--that I gave him chocolate chips and marshmallows for lunch. 

  Last night I said, "Marcos, I think you're all better."  He said, "No, Mom.  I'm not!"  He is hesitant to give his power up, but really, what superhero wouldn't be?

Bee-fore and After

This is the Marcos I've always known and loved--happy, enthusiastic, easy to please. That was before--before he got his tonsils out.

This is the Marcos I love now--today was his fourth day after surgery. Since he's so young (the tender little guy's only three) I didn't really believe the doctor when he said every day would be worse for about a week. The doctor was right. Marcos cries a lot and gets shaky and hysterical. It brings tears to my eyes. The pain medication burns his throat going down. The other morning I was trying to get him to take it. "This will help you feel better," I said. "But I'm not getting better!" He sounded so sad and desperate. I am learning how difficult it would be to have a chronically ill child. I feel blessed that my children are usually very healthy and that this is a temporary situation for little Marcos. I took this picture of him today and said, "Should we take a picture of you for Grandma and Grandpa?" He said yes, and without any prompting from me, said a weak little, "Cheese." Bless his heart.
Yesterday was a surprise 40th birthday party for my brother-in-law, Robert. He's a beekeeper (among many other things) and so I made him a beehive cake. I had made the bees bee-fore Marcos's surgery. I had made a few more than forty and put everything away when I caught Marcos (the bee-fore surgery, normal Marcos) eating one. After counting, I realized he'd eaten seven! I had to get everything out again and make more bees. Now Marcos won't eat anything. I wouldn't mind if he'd eat a bee or two.

Robert was a great sport. Here he is wearing a bee mask Marianne got for him. Our other news of the week is that we are the proud owners of a German Wirehair Pointer. Lili has always wanted a dog and lately she's been even more insistent that she get one. She wrote me a letter this week, saying "Pleese can I have a dog? Even just a littel one." I refuse to take responsibility for her wobbly spelling. It turned out that this week we found out about a family that needed a home for Hunter--our new dog. Hunter is great with the kids and doesn't bark at night, and seems like a nice enough fellow--for a dog. He also has an incredible amount of energy and a great desire to run all the time. I weigh quite a lot now, but it is difficult for me to control him. There's no way Lili could take him on a walk by herself, but we're hoping to get him used to us and our home here and then maybe he won't try to run away. He got away three times yesterday--his collar was too loose. Now he has a new collar and he's doing better. Lili is so happy with him. Her happiness is worth a lot.