Idaho

I took Dylan and Preston to Idaho the first week in June. Angie was in her last month of pregnancy so I figured it was a good time to go up and visit. We still fit in one vehicle, but this would be the last time until someone breaks down and buys a van. It was a blast! Dylan couldn't have been happier. He loves animals so the pheasant chicks and all the dogs were so much fun for him. Connor and Dylan played so well together. One night we went to Leo's pizza. They have a huge play area where the parents can actually play with their kids. I forgot socks, so Angie went to ShopKo and found me some nice navy blue wool socks on sale. I was looking crazy in my black capri pants and long navy blue wool socks. Come to find out, we could've purchased socks there. It was so much fun though. As you can see from the pictures, Dylan loves Uncle Justin. He is so patient with the kids and just lets them follow him around. He let the kids help with the flower garden he was putting in and was great about taking them on the four wheeler for a ride to see the chicks. It really was a great trip - and baby Preston was such an angel!

Memorial Day

We had a great time over Memorial Day weekend. We went to Dad and Suzanne's house for a little party. We had lunch and played bingo and each "won" a prize. The boys won water sling shot toys and the girls got an envelope all wrapped up. We were shocked and touched to find out Grandma Betty was giving each of us $2000. We were even more emotional when she told us that it was from her and Grandpa Bill (who passed away on March 5, 2004-three days after Dylan was born). She said she wanted us to have it while she is still alive. It was very unexpected and couldn't have come at a better time for us. We had much higher medical bills for Preston because of his stay in the NICU and Grandma's gift was almost exactly what we needed to pay the rest of the bills. What a blessing and a sweet gesture! After several tears and hugs, we all went out to play in the water. The kids loved the slip & slide and swimming in the hot tub. We finished off the day eating homemade ice cream and planting a tree in memory of Scott, my step brother who passed away last September. It was very fun and memorable for everyone.

Dylan's Tonsillectomy

We found out Dylan wasn't breathing very well while he was sleeping right before Preston was born. He fell asleep in my arms with his head tilted back and every few minutes would be gasping for breath. We took him to the ENT, who told us they were a 3 out of 4 (or almost touching) and recommended we either have his tonsils and adenoids taken out or take him in for a sleep study. We thought it would be easier to just remove them and be done with it. He was just starting with a cold at the time so we waited a month and then had them taken out. His surgery was on May 15, 2007. Primary Children's is a great hospital and geared towards children's needs so it was awesome in most respects. He loved the toys and wanted to ride around and pull the wagons. The only downfall is that a 3-year-old is actually one of the older kids at a children's hospital and the surgeries are done in order of age. He wasn't allowed to eat after midnight the night before (which was really 7 p.m. since he went to bed after that) and he wasn't allowed any liquid after 10 a.m. The surgery wasn't until 1:45 p.m. That was such a long time for him to go without food. It is so difficult to explain to a child that young why they aren't allowed to eat when they are hungry. Luckily the surgery went well. It was a difficult week and Dylan was pretty clingy and then things were back to normal. My favorite memories of the surgery are from the second day when the medicine had worn off a little bit. He would feel fine and then the pain would hit him. The first time the medicine had really worn off, he looked over at me with a very nervous look on his face and said, "Um, mom, I think there's a 'ploblem' in my mouth." It was so sweet and sad at the same time. Another day he wanted me to hold him and pat him on the back so he said, "Mom, can you burp me?" It was a tough time to have surgery with a 2-month-old baby, but we were glad to get it over with and have Dylan sleeping better again.

Preston's Blessing

Preston’s blessing was very special for us. We had planned on having a bbq with family Saturday night to avoid the rush of a get together after church. As Saturday approached, we realized the nice weather we had been having was turning cold. It was supposed to be rainy and cold all weekend. I didn’t think 40 people would fit inside so after much thought, we decided to cancel the bbq and focus on the blessing. It was a very quiet day, but the weather turned out great. I wish I would’ve known and we would’ve had the bbq Sunday. Hindsight is 20/20, right? It was still a great day and a beautiful blessing. Our sweet little baby was content and slept and smiled all day long!

Easter

Easter was so much fun this year. We went to Mom's house the Friday before and died Easter eggs. The little boys were very cute and careful with the eggs. The big boys (Marcos, and Gustavo) were a little naughty. They were cracking the eggs and dying the yokes. Crazy boys! Dylan and Tony had so much fun.

Sunday morning, Marcos and I were asleep and Dylan comes running in yelling, "The Easter Bunny came last night." He'd already been downstairs to see what the Easter Bunny had brought him and was ready to go on an Easter egg hunt. He was obsessed with the plastic Easter eggs. He played with them for weeks afterward, hiding them and having me find them or finding them himself. He seemed a little disappointed that Preston wasn't thrilled with his basket, but at under a month old, he was obviously more interested in eating and sleeping than what was in his basket. Dylan looked so cute in his pink dress shirt and tie that Abuela gave him. We had an Easter dinner the week before with the Uboldi side of the family and Abuela spoiled the kids with a book, a toy, and an Easter outfit. What fun memories!

Preston's Birth

I woke up March 14, 2007 feeling a little weak. I asked Marcos to stick around in case I needed his help. About an hour later, the flu bug hit me and I was very sick. By evening, I thought the worst was over. I sat on the couch trying to sip a little Sprite. Marcos took Dylan to Young Men's with him. I had been having contractions for awhile, but assumed it was nothing. When I decided to time them, they were about 5-6 minutes long and 30 seconds apart. I called Marcos to let him know what was happening. My midwife, Kathy, told me it was probably due to dehydration and to try to sip liquids and take a warm bath. By 11 p.m. we decided to go in to the hospital to see what was happening. Sure enough I was dehydrated and needed 4 bags of fluid. They tried to stop the contractions with fluids and medicine, but nothing worked-Preston was on his way. Things progressed quickly at first and then stopped. When they finally got my epidural to work and turned up the pytocin again the next morning, it wasn't long before I was ready to push. It only took one contraction and three pushes and Preston was here. It was 11:50 a.m. on March 15, 2007...a record-breaking day for births at McKay Dee Hospital. Preston was a big 36-week-old preemie at 7 lbs 11 oz and 20 1/2 inches. Seeing him and holding him was amazing...it truly was a magical moment. I was so glad my baby had arrived!

The hospital staff took Preston to the nursery to get him cleaned up. It wasn't until I had been alone in my room for several hours that I started to wonder and worry a little. Marcos showed up about the time Alicia came to see the baby and the two of them went to check things out. Preston had been transferred to the NICU and no one had informed me. I was so emotional. The neonatologist came into my room to explain what had happened. He had low glucose levels and needed an IV. It wasn't too serious, but the idea of my healthy baby being in the NICU was a nightmare. Needless to say, it was a very long weekend. Preston was born on Thursday morning and it was Monday afternoon before we took him home. I stayed at the hospital to nurse him. I feel like I never slept. I would wake up, walk to the NICU, feed him, go back to my room, try to fall asleep, wake up and repeat the whole cycle over 1-2 hours later. All I could think about was getting my baby healthy so I could bring him home. The idea of leaving the hospital without him was more than I could bare, but being away from Marcos and Dylan was very challenging as well. It was a very lonely first few days. I just tried not to think too much because I needed to just get out of there so I could move on with my life. The whole process was so emotionally draining. It gave me a small glimpse into the lives of so many people who have babies in the NICU for months. I can only imagine what a trial that would be.

Marcos and I were so relieved when the doctor discharged Preston Monday morning--it seemed unreal. I was in nursing Preston when the panel came in and the doctor told me he was letting us take him home. I wanted to scream with joy, but was afraid to get too excited and then find out something was wrong so I tried to act cool about the whole thing. Dylan was so excited as well. We told him about it, but I don't think he believed it until he saw me carry the baby out to the car. It was just such a different experience than we had expected where Dylan could come in and hold the baby and have his picture taken with him. Instead, the baby had been born and then he hadn't been able to see him. It made it hard for a 3-year-old to understand that the baby was here. One day, he actually asked me if I still had the baby in my tummy. He didn't understand why I didn't have him in my tummy anymore, but he couldn't see him either. We loaded the baby in the car and I sat in the back with the two boys. Dylan was so sweet with Preston. He held his little hand or held his binkie in the whole drive home. The next week all Dylan wanted to do was hold his little brother. It was a nice surprise for us. Although he had his behavioral moments, he has been an awesome big brother to baby Preston.

Pregnancy

Since my pregnancy was a big part of this past year, I thought I'd put in a couple pictures from my third trimester when I was showing and growing...quickly. I really can't complain...my pregnancy with Preston was not horrible. There are some really awesome things about being pregnant- finding out you're pregnant, seeing the ultrasound pictures, feeling your baby kick, finding out if it's a boy or a girl, and the delivery is an incredible experience. But that's about it. The rest of the 9-10 months is hard work and body and hormonal changes that can be quite annoying. I'm grateful for both of my children, but have to admit pregnancy is not my favorite stage of life. I love some moments and the rest I could do without! But here are some pregnancy belly moments to remember.

Who's pregnant?

New Year's Eve (around 26 weeks)

February (around 32 weeks)

March (36 weeks)

Same day, different picture

Dylan's 3rd Birthday

It has been a crazy, jam-packed year! I'm going to attempt to post some of our major events this year, even though it is looking back at the year since it's already September. March 2nd was Dylan's 3rd birthday party. He wanted a Bob-the-builder party so I went crazy with the theme. We didn't want to invite too many kids so we had a cousin party for all of Dylan's cousins. Connor didn't get there until the end of the party, but every cousin ended up there at some point during the party. We decorated hard hats and tools boxes, played with trucks and tools, ate dirt cake out of a dump truck and were surrounded by construction decorations. It was a really fun party without too many kid meltdowns!

Rufener Cousins (Tony, Kamyn, Connor, Dylan)

Uboldi Cousins (Mylo, Leah, Dylan, Mason, Diego, Gabi)

Dylan's "dirt" cake

Presents

What's a blog?

Here is my attempt at computer literacy. Thanks for the idea Sid! Since I became a stay-at-home mom, my computer skills have been slipping. I basically check email, research kid topics on search engines, and upload pictures. I am excited about this little blog though. It is my attempt at keeping some sort of a journal and being able to share Uboldi life with family and friends that may not see us very often. Wish me luck!