Happy Birthday Skylar! a little early

Tuesday, February 3rd, you will turn 27 years old. These are all the things we love about you:


You were such a cute chubby baby!


You are a very hard worker and won't quit until the job is done.
You always seem to have the best of luck.

You are anxious to teach your son how to use a bow and arrow...in the house.

You enjoy giving lessons on how to hit things with a stick.

You can sleep almost anywhere.

You have the patience to teach a 3 year old and a 1 year old how to fly a kite.

You are such a softy when it comes to your daughter.

You are a good sport to dress up as a hunter :)

You endure all the picture taking that your wife makes you pose for.

You are SO handsome!

You love your wife and she knows it.

You give your kids fire to play with.

You enjoy killing Bambi.

You like telling me its time to put the camera away.

You endured the fire academy!

You enjoy playing with your kids.

You like bringing home the bacon.

Squirting water on a fire amuses you.

You love your job.

You like getting woken up in the wee hours of the morning to put on a heavy suit in order to save lives.

Skylar, you are such an amazing man, husband and father. We love your sense of humor and your wonderful laugh. We are grateful for how hard you work for us and love when you are able to spend the day playing with us. I love the example you are to our children and am grateful for your patience! We hope you have a wonderful birthday and WE LOVE YOU!!

Love,

Kari, Slade and Daisy

Just to Clarify

Some of you may be confused at why my baby needs to come early, so I am going to try to explain it better.

My baby girl is not growing like she should be.
Her environment is good, meaning she is getting the blood flow that she needs and there is plenty of amniotic fluid for her.
She has a strong heart and moves around just fine.

The Problem: Because everything looks good from an ultrasound point of view, she should be gaining weight consistently like a normal baby, but she isn't. That is the puzzling thing. Why isn't she growing if her environment is good?
That is why my doctor wants her out to see if there is an underlying issue that is not showing up in the ultrasounds and tests. The sooner she is out, the sooner she can be treated if there is something going on.
If I were to wait and deliver her as normally planned, it may be too late and the outcome could be bad.
My doctor was planning on taking her at 32 weeks, but at that time she decided to gain weight. He decided to wait and monitor her to see if she would continue to grow.
Since then, she has not made enough progress for my doctor to be comfortable to keep in her the womb, and that is why she will come early. He is being cautious regarding the development of her lungs and I believe that is very important.
I hope that clears up any questions that some of you may have. I know its all been quite confusing for some of you but I hope this helped.

Photo Shoot!

Last Saturday I had the opportunity to have my awesome photographer sister, Kendyl, take some maternity pictures of me. I absolutely love how they turned out! Thanks Kendyl! She was also able to snap a few of my kids...
I was 35 weeks when these were taken.

Amnio Follow Up

Turns out the baby scored a 1.8 on the "readiness" scale. They like to see that number between 2 and 2.5 before they will deliver. She was considered to be borderline, but my doctor didn't want to take any chances by delivering her yet. He was disappointed as well because she should be doing better than that by now. I was also having contractions all day yesterday, but they were about 15 minutes apart and very mild so it didn't concern me. My doctor checked me to see if I was going into labor, but I wasn't.
I have to go back to see him on Friday for an ultrasound to check on the baby, then on Monday I get to have another amniocentesis done! Yes, another one. How did I get so lucky? A week makes a huge difference so he is also scheduling me for a c-section on Tuesday! Of course, it will depend once again on the outcome of the amnio results. Tuesday just happens to be Skylar's birthday! I think that it would be really special if they get to share a birthday. That is something they will always have in common, no matter what.
I am trying not to get my hopes up but at the same time, I need to prepare myself mentally for another c-section! This will be my third and its better to be prepared than not to be, trust me!
I have three other friends that are scheduled to deliver next week as well, so it would be awesome if we all delivered within days of each other!
I am bummed that Skylar has to work on Monday so he won't be able to be with me when I get the amnio done, but my mom is coming instead! Skylar starts his four days off on Tuesday, so it would be perfect if the baby was to come then. I am also hoping that the baby will come Tuesday because my mother in-law will be in town until Wednesday, so she will get to see the baby as well. I think she has yet to see one of her grandkids in person the day they were born.
I am so grateful to all of you for your thoughts and prayers and comments during my emotional time. I have a very good feeling that it will work out wonderfully, no matter when she comes.
Oh yeah, we still need a name. I have written down every name that has been suggested, but if any of you know my husband, you will understand why we don't have a name yet.

My Feelings Today...

Now that I have had time to cry, eat, sleep and somewhat calm down, I wanted to express my feelings about what has been going on.
My emotions that I have been feeling have come from all of the uncertainty regarding the well being of this baby. She isn't growing inside of me like she should be and no one can figure out why.
Also, I have been told several times that she needs to come out, so I had prepared myself mentally several times, only to be told that she isn't coming. (I think I now understand the feeling that those of you feel when you are told a baby is ready to be adopted by you, but it falls through.) It's extremely difficult not to get my hopes up when I am told she will be coming. How can I not?
I have many questions that I want answered but I know that most of them may never be answered. I am grateful for my knowledge of the gospel and understand that things happen on the Lord's time and not mine.
I have a follow up appointment with my doctor tomorrow that we are both anxious for. Instead of having a baby today, I get to go grocery shopping and treat today like any other day. I do, however, get to spend the day with the people I love most.

Amniocentesis Results

I just received a call from the hospital and was told that the baby's lungs are immature. My doctor was confident that she was ready to be born going off of the cloudiness of the fluid, but apparently she is not. I have mixed emotions right now. I really just want to cry because this whole pregnancy has been such an emotional roller coaster! I don't have much information at this point but was told to call and get an appointment with my doctor as soon as I can.
What frustrates me the most right now is that Daisy was born 6 weeks early and didn't have any issues with breathing, but I will be 36 weeks Wednesday and this baby's lungs are not developed enough. I know she is small and that may be the reason but I am so confused at this point and want to know what is going on with her. I understand that I may not get any answers until she is born and I am being so impatient.
At the same time, I understand the importance of waiting for her to be ready to breath on her own. I want her to be healthy and strong and not dependent on machines. I already love this baby so much and I don't even know her.
I am grateful for all of the support that I have received throughout this pregnancy from family and friends. I appreciate it, thank you! When I find out more, I will let you know!

Amniocentesis Experience

The day started out early with me waking up at 5:45am to eat a bowl of cereal because I wasn't allowed to eat, drink or chew gum by 6am. I get light headed and my hands shake when I don't eat and I'm glad I got up to eat, although I went back to bed for a little while longer.
The morning went by as normal, feeding the kids, getting them ready for the day, getting myself ready for the day and cleaning up the house a bit.
My mom came over to watch the kids and Skylar and I headed for the hospital at 12:30pm. I had to check in at 1pm, and was in a room shortly after that. We were told that there were quite a few emergencies today, so the doctor was running behind. We waited until 2:25pm when a nurse finally came in and took my vitals and informed me that I had to get an IV as well. She hooked up the baby monitors and asked me if I had felt any contractions, and I hadn't so I said no. Right after she left, I thought I had felt a contraction! It was very mild but I know what they feel like and I was pretty sure I had one. I continued to feel the same pain every three minutes for the next half hour so I had Skylar check out the monitor paper and of course he wasn't sure what he was looking at. The nurse came back a little later to put the IV in and that was the most painful IV I have ever had! I am never able to look while they stick me, but I did feel blood pour down my hand and the nurse said, "oh, no!" That's never good. She had to tape it all weird for it to stay and it continued to hurt the whole time I was there. I felt like I couldn't move my thumb and pointer finger. Anyway, I asked if the monitor was showing me having contractions and it did but she said it was probably because I was a little dehydrated from fasting.
About an hour later the ultrasound guy came in and it turned out he was a student! I figured because he was an ultrasound tech, that there was no way he could hurt me. Boy was I wrong! He had NO idea what he was doing, but a lady was there telling him what to do. He also just squirted the gel on my bellybutton and didn't spread it around! He had to check the baby out before the procedure and he pushed SO hard on my belly!
My doctor finally came in to check on me and get things ready for the procedure. Before I knew it, he was sitting on my bed sterilizing my stomach. Skylar took some pictures but I needed him to hold my hand so he didn't get to take a picture of the needle in me like he wanted to. I'm okay with that, as long as he got to see it.
I was able to watch the ultrasound screen during the stick and actually saw the needle in me! I can't explain the pain that I felt other than extreme pressure and some burning. It felt like it was never going to end because he had to push the needle in slow. Once it was in place, I didn't want to even breathe because I could feel it every time I took a breath. It didn't last long and didn't hurt as bad coming out. I got a little bandaid and then the ultrasound guy checked on the baby again. She did great the whole time! I had to be monitored for an hour after the procedure and was given a turkey sandwich and juice. After the hour was done, I got my IV out and was able to head home! My doctor said the fluid looks mature enough, so he is planning on delivering the baby tomorrow!! I do have to wait for the actual results that will be available in the morning, but I am scheduled for a c-section at noon! I am so excited for this baby and am grateful I am done with the amniocentesis. I don't EVER want to do that again. I am now very tired and my hand is extremely sore. I was told not to eat anything again tomorrow but at this point I don't care. I'm ready for this baby!

Just getting settled in...

After the procedure...

Yay! Amniotic fluid! He took three vials and I got to hold them :)

By the way, we will be at Mountain Vista Medical Center on Crismon/Southern. So far, I love that hospital. The rooms and bathrooms are SO big! I also checked out the menu and holy crap, I cannot wait to try some of those entree's! I think the rooms have wireless internet, so hopefully I can update tomorrow night. And, still no names for this baby girl...

Princess Daisy and Tough Boy Slade

I have blogged a lot about the baby that is yet to come, but I felt the need to blog about Slade and Daisy. They bring so much joy to my life!

I have to say that I absolutely love having a girl. I find myself wanting to play dress up with her, paint her toenails, do her hair and pretend to put makeup on her. She is just a sweetheart and also a big helper. She likes to help me clean, especially vacuum although it takes three times as long as it would if I did it myself. She can whistle, loves to dance, loves her baby dolls, sleeps in a big girl bed, thinks its fun to potty on the toilet and every morning she has to give the baby in mommy's tummy a kiss. She is talking so much and can recite some of the alphabet! She will be 2 in April!


Slade is growing up way too fast. He surprises us everyday with what comes out of this mouth. He turned 3 in November and has learned to ride his bike! He asks to ride his bike everyday, so I have been getting a nice workout as I try to keep up with him. He can recognize all of the letters, recites the alphabet in order, knows his colors, sings Primary songs all day, loves any kind of animal and bug, uses the bathroom all by himself, dresses himself, loves to read books and watch movies and is still a cuddle bug. Whenever he crashes on his bike or gets hurt at all, he will jump up and say, "I'm okay, I am TOUGH!" He keeps us laughing and we are grateful that he is such a good big brother.



I have had such an emotional time with this pregnancy that I'm sure the kids are feeling the effects of it all. During this pregnancy I have been told so many times that the baby will or need to come early, so I have prepared myself for her arrival many times, only to be told to hang in there. I am very grateful that I have made it this far but I am emotionally exhausted from all the uncertainty and waiting for tests and whatnot. One week the baby looks okay, the next she isn't doing so well, and so on. I understand that she is expected to be small and I am confident that she will be okay on her own once she arrives. The past few days have been a little strange for me. On Thursday morning I couldn't shake the panic feeling that I was having and my hands were shaky for most of the day. I would try to calm myself down, but I would start crying instead! By the afternoon, I was doing a lot better and I spent the day at my parents house because Skylar was working.
I had the strongest impression on Friday that this baby needs to come. All day I had a calm feeling that everything will be okay as well. If this baby is delivered this week, she will have stayed in the womb 2 weeks longer than Daisy did, but because she is measuring so small she may have other issues. I'm now anxious for the results of the amniocentesis and not so nervous about the long needle anymore!
The Lord knows my strengths, even if I don't.

Quick Baby Update #11

The specialist didn't have any different information than before. The baby is small, but her environment is good. She is measuring in the 6th percentile and may weigh about 4 lbs to 4 lbs 10oz. She has only gained about a pound in 6 weeks which is not great. The doctor was expecting her to be bigger. So, now we wait for the amniocentesis on Monday and go from there.

Baby Update #10

I had another appointment today and the baby looks the same, no improvement in the weight department, but still going strong. She likes to sleep during the ultrasounds so the tech is always shaking my belly to make sure she really does move like I say she does. Yet, she continues to sleep until I walk out of the office! She has attitude already! I have an appointment with the specialist this Thursday, then I have the wonderful opportunity to get an amniocentesis done on Monday that will determine if her lungs are developed enough. Depending on what the specialist says and the amnio test, they will deliver her at 36 weeks, which I will be next Wednesday! I don't really know what to expect with the amniocentesis besides this:
If any of you have had this done, please let me know what the experience was like. I'm going to read up on it after I finish posting this, but I would like to know your personal stories. I've been poked so many times with needles that I'm used to it, but never in this way! I've got to say, I'm a bit nervous about the procedure. Skylar will be able to go with me, thank goodness! Although, he is not much of a comforter when it comes to "cool" stuff like this because he would rather watch than hold my hand. Wish me luck!

Baby Update #9

34 weeks

So, I've made it to 34 weeks without a baby! Daisy was delivered at 34 weeks and we are grateful it didn't happen again. I've had several doctor's appointments since the last time I posted a baby update, but it was all the same news. It was a goal to get to this week without going into labor and I made it! I now look pregnant and am enjoying it!
I have ultrasounds every week to measure the baby's growth, and today she once again measured just under the 3rd percentile. She was in the 10th a few weeks ago, so she hasn't grown much at all. Although, she looks great in all other aspects! We watched her do "practice breaths" last week and her heart is still very strong. My doctor has decided to send me to the specialist for an ultrasound once a week and I will continue to go to my regular office for ultrasounds once a week! That means two ultrasounds each week until I deliver. My doctor also mentioned the possibility of doing an amniocentesis to make sure the baby is peeing enough. I learned that if there is not any pee or enough pee in the amniotic fluid, that means she is not getting the blood flow she needs. Also, by having two ultrasounds a week, I won't have to keep track of how many times she kicks each hour. (Supposed to be at least 10 times) That is really hard to do! My doctor also mentioned delivering her at 36 weeks! He would rather have her out of me and figure out why she isn't growing, than to let me go to 39 weeks as planned, and have a bad outcome. It's not set in stone yet, but he said he will probably go that route. I'll keep you updated :)

New Year, New Hair!

It seems that every time I am about to have a baby, I feel like I need to change my hair. With Slade, I grew it out. With Daisy, I went a little darker. This time, I cut it off and went back blonde! I didn't take a before picture, but just scroll down a bit and look at our Christmas pictures for the before look. It is an A-line cut, but I couldn't get a good picture of it by myself and my hubby is napping.

Daisy has been letting me play around with her hair lately, so I tried round brushing it while I blow-dried it and it turned out SO cute! She has asked me to make her hair "pretty" the last couple of days! I love it!

The New Year!

So far, its been a fun year! :)

I was able to stay up until midnight New Year's Eve, which hasn't happened for a few years. The kids and I went to my sister's house for their annual party while Skylar got to work at the Tempe Block Party! Lucky him! He does not like crowds, but he got to be down there with over 100,000 other people. He was assigned to a medical tent and said he handed out tons of band aids to women who thought that wearing stilettos at the party was a good idea. He had a few good laughs at the drunk people that wandered his way and other than that, there was no major incidents. The kids I were home and in bed before 12:30am by the way!

Slade is now a Sunbeam! It's actually quite weird having a child go to Primary. We've been preparing him for the transition for a while, telling him how awesome it is and how much fun he will have. Our ward did a Meet the Teacher night the Saturday before and Slade was so excited! He was a little wound up and seemed to be the class clown as he jumped around and acted goofy. He even made goofy faces at the girls in his class and they thought he was a weirdo. He did great that night, but I was still nervous for Sunday. Skylar had to work, so I was on my own if he had a meltdown. Sunday morning he woke up happy and didn't fight me to get church clothes on. The kids were pretty good during sacrament and Slade pretty much ran to the Primary room when it was time. I made him come with me to drop Daisy off in nursery (who didn't cry for the first time) and then I took him to the bathroom before class. As we walked to his row, which is right in front, he tightened his hold on my hand, but he sat down and didn't look back! I think I was going to cry! He did amazing! I checked on him from the little peep-window in the door a few times and caught him singing and doing the motions to all of the songs. He was even reverent when he was supposed to be! I was thoroughly amazed that he was doing so well. When I picked him up to go home, he said he had a lot of fun and wanted to go back next week! Yay! It does help when the teacher is awesome! Thanks Jessica!

Daisy won't move to a new class until this coming Sunday and I hope she does well with that transition. She is finally starting to realize nursery isn't so bad. Her good friend Cale is in her class right now and I hope they are in the same class this year as well. It makes it easier when I tell her she can go play with Cale.

This year has also brought a new (used) vehicle to our family! Our Sonata won't fit three car seats so we upgraded! We found a super good deal on a 2004 Expedition that we couldn't pass up. I hate that I will have to pay more for gas but it will fit us better. We also like to go camping and we will now be able to haul a trailer when we get one :) That's our next goal. I'll post pictures of it later.

We are also anticipating a few new things this year:
1. The birth of our daughter, hopefully in Feb.
2. A new nephew in March
3. Tax returns
4. Daisy turning two in April (okay, we aren't looking forward to that)
5. My little brother graduating from high school in May
6. Skylar no longer being a probie in May
7. Me turning 25 in May!
8. My brother coming home from his mission in June!
9. Kleven Family Reunion
10. Youngest brother possibly getting his driving permit :)
11. Other brother going on a mission!
12. And, hopefully a trip to Utah!

That's just a few, but this year is already going to be filled with exciting events!
I hope 2009 brings much happiness to you all! Happy New Year!