Memory Lane

So for the last seven, yes SEVEN, days Brynn has been vomiting a lot. A lot is pretty subjective, so how can I quantify a lot? Well...

she did not keep any food or drink of any kind down for 72 hours

she did not have a single wet diaper for 36 hours

she got an IV and received 150ml of fluid and still had no wet diaper

she received 150ml more and then had a wet diaper

she didn't eat or drink anything for the next 12 hours

she was so weak, this previously walking girl could not even stand up

she only had Pedialyte for 24 hours after that

she increased the intervals between throwing up until finally...

she has not vomited for 24 hours

That account sounds a little dramatic, but it's all true. She was one sick little girl, but thankfully she never looked quite as bad as I would have expected after all of that.

So during all of this she was throwing up on her clothes, particularly jammies, faster than we could keep them going through the wash. As a result we quickly ran out of clean/dry jammies to change her into, so we had to dig deep to find some of Mason's old jammies to add into the cycle. Seeing her in them brought back a flood of memories of Mason when he was her age. It reminded me how different Mason and Brynn's personalities are. I am so grateful for two individual children who have different strengths and weaknesses, likes and dislikes, and appearances. Mason at 8 months old. Brynn at 10 months old, and even when she is 2 months older the jammies were too long.

And for the record I was surprised to see that their hair color is not very different in these pictures. I forgot how light Mason's hair was until after he turned 1. Maybe she'll end up having dark hair to match her brown eyes.

Janitor Murray

This guy spent his weekend cleaning every kind of bodily fluid you can imagine out of sheets, carpet, clothes, hair, and more. I told you he does a really good job being Mr. Mom when I'm at work. But I'm still grateful I got cancelled tonight so I can stay home and take care of little Miss Brynn who has been feeling under the weather.

** Update **
After getting an IV and replacing all those fluids she's lost all over the house, hopefully Brynn will start feeling better.

Frequently Asked Questions

Most people know that I work night shifts at the hospital, but many do not fully understand what that entails, so I get a lot of questions about my work schedule and why I choose to work when I do. So here are answers to some frequently asked questions.

FAQ: How much do you work?

Answer: I am scheduled for two, 12 hour shifts, a week. Each shift goes from 6pm to 6am (really 6:30 by the time I'm done giving report to day shift). I work every other weekend Friday, Saturday, and Sunday night, then I have a couple nights off, work again Wednesday night, and then have 8 nights off before I work my weekend shifts again. It just cycles over and over like that unless I trade shifts or change it for any reason.

FAQ: Do you like being a working Mom?

Answer: I work because I love being a nurse, it's my hobby. The paychecks that come along with it are an added bonus, but I don't do it for the money. I choose to work nights so that I can do what I love, but not have to be away from my kids to do it. I leave for work at 5:45pm and Brynn and Mason are usually in bed by 8pm, so I only miss out on a couple hours which is pretty much the same as if I were doing some other hobby a couple nights a week. They get to have fun playing with Daddy and do things his way for a night. I get home around 6:45am and they usually wake up shortly thereafter to find I am home and for all they know I could have been there all night.

FAQ: Do you like working nights?

Answer: I love it. Anyone who knows me, knows I am a total night person.

FAQ: If you work all night then when do you sleep?

Answer: The reason I do most of my shifts over the weekend is so I can come home and sleep while Scott has the kids. I usually sleep for 4-5 hours broken up throughout the day, so it's not tons, but enough to get by. The weekdays after I work are different because I never work back to back shifts during the week and when I don't have to return to work that night, I only need a couple hours of sleep to get me through the day. So on the Mondays and Thursdays after I work I come home and when Mason and Brynn wake up I pack them up and go to my mom's house where she takes care of them for a few hours while I sleep in her basement. Like any mom she likes to spoil me sometimes when she doesn't have anything going on and won't come wake me up until 1 or 2. Gotta love those days.

FAQ: If you're going to be sleeping during the day then how is it any different than just working during the day?

Answer: If I were to work during the day I would leave before Mason and Brynn woke up and would get home after dinner just in time to put them to bed. I would be gone for their entire day. When I am sleeping I am still home, and they know I am there if they want or need me. Mason comes in my room to show and tell me about things he is doing and sometimes he just wants to come lay by me and I love it when he does (until he gets a little too wiggly then I call on Scott to lure him away). I wake up to nurse Brynn so she doesn't have to take bottles during the day and so I can see her excited smiling face and waving arms when Scott brings her into me. Also, if I worked days I would need child care for all 12 hours of the day no matter what. By working nights Scott just has to be home to sleep with the kids for the 12 hours I'm gone which he would be anyway. I try to make sure I get adequate sleep after I work, but sleep is flexible. If my mom has to teach a class or Scott has something going on I can shift around my sleep and even go without if needs be. Also I don't have to miss out on as many activities and can attend church every week.

FAQ: How do your kids handle you working?

Answer: I already talked about how they really don't know I'm gone for as long as I am. All of the time I am gone or sleeping they get to spend with their Dad or Grandma, their 2 favorite people in the world. Mason knows that the weekends I work he gets to play with Daddy all weekend and what little boy wouldn't be excited about that? He also Loves going to my mom's house. When I was on maternity leave for 3 months after having Brynn and my mom wasn't regularly babysitting Mason he started coming up to me and saying, "Mom, you go to work and I'll go to Grandma Nancy's, K." My kids are at no loss by me working. They just have closer relationships with their Dad and grandparents and because I get to get out and do something I love I feel I am a better mom for them when I'm home.

So there you have it. Hope that made some sense and will help make sense of my references to working. If you have any other questions let me know.

Welcome Avely Mae

We are excited for Brynn and Mason to have another cousin on the Murray side. Scott's sister, Janessa, had her baby girl, Avely Mae this week and she couldn't be more adorable. We were lucky enough to have Kayla (the big sister) stay with us while Janessa and Avely were in the hospital and Jeremy was being superman bouncing around between school, the hospital, and our house. Having three kids under the age of 3 for three days went surprisingly well, but sure made me content having only two kids for awhile. All of the talk about the baby coming brought out some great Mason comments. When I told him the baby was coming out of Janessa's tummy just like Brynn came out of Mommy's tummy he got all excited and said, "I have two babies in my tummy!! A brother and a sister." For the last 4 days he will randomly stop playing and say, "I feel babies in my tummy. They are coming out of my belly button." I asked him what their names are and he told me the brother is Wacky and the sister is Stacky. Oh this little boy has a wild imagination. Congrats to the Reese family on their beautiful addition.

Happy Monster Band

Like so many others we enjoyed listening to General Conference and recieving counsel from our church leaders. This conference definitely seemed to have a theme of protecting the family and teaching our children. I sure came away with my tank filled and ready to be the best mother, wife, and person I can be. During one of the Saturday sessions Mason was in his toy room playing when the Mormon Tabernacle Choir started singing. He came sprinting out and exclaimed, "It's the Happy Monster Band!!" For those of you unfamiliar, the Happy Monster Band is a mini series on Playhouse Disney about a band of 4 monsters that sing hits such as "I'm the best at being me" and "Practice makes Progress". Check them out here. The Mormon Tabernacle men were wearing their traditional black suits and the women were wearing red dresses. Mason informed us, "There's black guys and red girls." The next day when the women had changed to blue dresses he said, "Oh, it's a different Happy Monster Band with blue girls!" I guess I can kind of see the similarities....sort of.

Baby Steps

Brynn started taking her first steps this weekend. She started with one semi-controlled step to me from the couch, but is quickly improving and today took up to 4 controlled steps at a time. I still wouldn't classify it as full blown walking, but at the rate she's going she'll be there before long. She is really steady on her feet and has even started going from her knees to squating to standing on her own without any support. She only takes steps when she has something in her hands (and often times her mouth, too). I guess it helps her balance. It still makes me laugh every time I see her take a step because she is so tiny she looks like a 6 month old walking, not a 9 month old.

Easter

Easter was a lot of fun this year. It felt like our first real Easter because it was the first year Mason was old enough to really be excited about decorating eggs and egg hunts. Brynn fed off his excitement and loved shaking her eggs. One day I'll learn how to do a cute collage of my favorite pictures, but until then bare with me posting them all individually.

Murray Easter Egg Hunt: My mother-in-law had the great idea to put dimes in the eggs instead of candy. Each person got 10 eggs and after the hunt we loaded in the cars and went to the dollar store for everyone to cash in their dimes for a toy. Mason got a stuffed snake that he loves. Thanks Grandma Linda.

Nu Skin Egg Hunt: Bad weather forced the hunt inside. Limited spaced turned the usual free for all into standing in line picking eggs out of a basket. Mason didn't mind at all because he could pick exactly which eggs he wanted and he didn't have to compete with other kids.

Decorating Eggs: Mason was so excited to decorate eggs and was anticipating it for days. He wanted to make Monster eggs. He is at an age where once we start doing something he is more interested in the finished product than the process of making it. He wanted Scott to draw all the faces and then he would choose which color and help put it in the dye. He loved his eggs. Brynn sat in her seat and I gave her a couple eggs to shake and she couldn't have been happier. Easter morning: The Easter Bunny had visited and brought us a wagon. Mason enjoyed yet another egg hunt in our basement and Brynn got more eggs to shake. Wow, Egg hunt #3 and we still have one more to go.

Hale Easter Dinner: We had Easter dinner at my mom's house and it was delicious. I decided that I actually like Easter dinner food much better than Thanksgiving dinner food. The kids did yet another egg hunt, but we forgot our camera because honestly, how many pictures of them holding eggs do we need? But they had a lot of fun with their cousins.