Happy Easter....He is Risen!

Easter morning the kids woke at 7:10 am. It was really nice to sleep in a little bit. They were both dressed and ready to start the day. "It is time to wake up, " they both repeated over and over. Somehow I was able to get them to wait for me to get up before they dove into their Easter baskets.

They both received bubbles, modelling clay and 2 small chocolate bars. Phoenix also received an egg chalk that Axel was given a year or two ago. She didn't put it away with the other chalk so I stored it back up in the attic and plan on giving it to Axel or Rubix next year and see how long I can keep the chalk egg appearing in one of their Easter baskets :)

Daddy made breakfast while I hid the eggs we colored the day before. Here they are after breakfast ready to start their indoor egg hunt. They were both pointing to an egg that they saw. 

 Here is a cute picture of the two after our indoor egg hunt was complete.

Daddy's picture of the kids and their eggs before putting them back in the refrigerator. We planned on having Easter devilled eggs later with our ham dinner. 

We had our annual out door egg hunt in the park. This year most of the people we invited were busy so it was just Tyler and his twins, Zoe and Jade, with our kiddos. 

Despite the low attendance and the fact that the twins lost interest after about 5 minutes, Axel and Phoenix had a great time finding the 85 eggs that I hid. This was our longest egg hunt, by far, and took well over 30 minutes.

 Axel being creative.

We had a great day together and enjoyed the beautiful weather. We our now gearing up for Axel's 7th birthday and party. I have portraits of him and the family that we took on Good Friday that I will post next time (Daddy still has to download the rest of the photos. He only downloaded a few that he posted on facebook, although I like the other ones better).

Rubix 2 week appointment and pre Easter fun

On Thursday, Axel had a baseball game. Daddy and Axel were excited for Rubix to go and be apart of the fun. They even picked out the proper outfit for him to wear. I obliged and made sure to put it on him before heading over to the game. 

 Here is a great action shot of Axel fielding the ball and trying to make the out at second base.

 Almost Axel!

 Here is a cute shot of the two after the game.

 Yesterday, Rubix had his 2 week check up at 10 days old because our pediatrician will be out of the office until April 4th. Rubix is doing absolutely awesome now that I have completely changed my diet. He measured 20 1/4 inches tall. That is 1/2 an inch in 9 days! Unbelievable! Rubix weighed 8 lbs 8 oz which is almost a pound up from the 7 lbs 9.5 oz that he weighed the last time we were at the doctor's office just 2.5 days after birth. I am extremely impressed at his growth rate because Axel and Phoenix have not historically grown like that.

Rubix has been able to sleep in the bassinet almost 2 nights completely by himself! I say almost 2 nights because I was too tired to put him back this morning after he ate at 5:30am. It looks like he will be getting up just 2 times per night around 12:30am and 4am between the hours of 9:30pm and 6 ish am. That is fantastic for not even 2 weeks old. I am very hopeful that we will be able to set a normal sleep/wake cycle over the next couple of weeks. As most of you know I am not good with unpredictable and the sooner I can get him into a routine the better for me and the rest of the family!

Yesterday Daddy and I really wanted to take the family to the Good Friday service, but decided it wasn't the best thing for little Rubix. Instead we celebrated our Lord with a picnic in the park and gave thanks to Jesus for his sacrifice.

My sweet boy wanted to hold his little brother. Axel just can't get enough of Rubix and how "adorable" he is. I just love it!

 Daddy and baby Rubix.

 Today Axel had another baseball game. Today's big news was that he finally switch hit during the game. Here he is up to bat....

 and here he is with the line drive up the 1st base line!

 This was one of his best hits so far this season. Daddy and I were super proud of him.

 When we got home from the game we decided to color eggs. The kids had a great time dipping, painting and decorating their eggs. We only had one casualty but Phoenix quickly learned not to drop her eggs!

Daddy and Axel are at a musical, Singing in the Rain, that our babysitter, Monica is in. Phoenix and Rubix are napping at the same time for the second day in a row! That means time for me to get things done. Yeah for me!

We are looking forward to a fun Easter Egg hunt in doors and in the park tomorrow as well as Axel's birthday party next Saturday and our little family get together next Sunday once the Jolleys return from Iceland. Check back soon for more Szolusha fun!

Rubix Photo Shoot

On Sunday one of the mom's on the baseball team came over and did a photo shoot of Rubix. She takes the pictures for the team and they have been great so when she offered to take pictures of Rubix I was more than happy to say yes. Here are several photos to enjoy.

These posts took me a week to get up because we had quite the scare with baby Rubix. Before leaving the hospital I noticed a rash on Rubix's cheek. I had the nurse come look at him and they said it was a normal baby rash so I didn't think much of it. When we got home the first two nights Rubix was extremely fussy and didn't want to be put down. On Friday morning Rubi's face was bright red and we noticed hives on his back, chest and legs. We had an appointment in the newborn club but we decided to cancel it and go see our pediatrician. She confirmed it was allergies.

I was fed on kinds of top allergic foods in the hospital. I had stopped dairy the day before out of suspicion. I was really sad when the doctor said that the safest thing was to go pick up the prescription formula, Neocate, that Phoenix started on when she was 4.5 months old. She thought because it was such a quick reaction it could be a more serious allergy and cause anaphylaxis if he was continually exposed. It typically takes 2 to 3 weeks to fully clear dairy and several days to clear other allergen foods. We picked up the Neocate and some new bottles and headed home. Luckily, he took both the awful tasting Neocate and the bottle really well. He had 4 bottles by 11pm that night and I could tell he was already doing much better because I was able to set him down for short periods of time.

He was hungry by midnight and I could not get myself to make him a bottle so I decided to nurse him. Luckily, in the morning he was looking better and he slept better than the previous two nights. We did the bottle thing during the day for 2 more days and now he is back to just nursing and is starting to sleep for 2 to 3 hour stents by himself! I feel so incredibly lucky that he is easy going enough to go from nursing to the bottle. Not all kids are like that...Praise the Lord!

In Axel news, he is starting to become more and more independent. He is learning how to cook. He is getting meals and snacks for himself as well. For example, after dinner last night (a burger, sweet potato fries and cucumbers) he was still hungry. I said you can go get yourself whatever you like because you ate so well. He came back with a bagel bar cut in half, toasted and buttered by himself! It might not sound like much, but I was extremely proud of him that he didn't ask for any help.

Axel received his report card on Friday and he continues to do well all around. The biggest improvement this year has been socially. We had quite a bit of social struggles in preschool and kindergarten. Although, this year started a little rough, he is finally adapting to more situations and learning to have more friends. Academically he continues to do well with his reading improving the most quickly. He needs to read between a 2.9 and a 3.6 (that is between 2nd and 3rd grade) reading levels in order to continue to challenge him. Now we are in the process of trying to find chapter books that he likes because he has gotten out of the habit of reading books that challenge him.

In Phoenix news, she is officially diaper free. She has had maybe one accident in the past 3 weeks. She made a decision that when baby comes she will no longer wear diapers and she has stuck to that. Knock on wood, she has been accident free since Rubix arrived!

We are looking forward to a three day weekend together and lots of Easter fun so please check back soon! We hope you enjoy these pictures as much as we do!

Rubix Vaughn Szolusha Arrives 10:33pm on March 15th!

The story begins a week before Rubix arrives. My body was showing signs of labor with hours of mini labors (where my contractions were 10 minutes apart) almost every day. On Monday, Rubix's due date I had a doctor's appointment. I measured "a little bigger than 3cm and a little more than 50% effaced". I was surprised I hadn't changed much with all of the false labors I was having compared to my appointment a week earlier where I was 3cm and 50%. I weighed in at 137.3 lbs and measured 37 weeks along.  I had an ultrasound the week before just to make sure everything was okay because I still measured small. The ultrasound estimated that Rubix weighed 8lbs 13 oz (putting him in the 85 %ile) and his measurements put his due date for Saturday March 12th. My weight gain was disappointing at only 22 lbs, but my stomach wasn't handling foods very well either. 

Anyways, around noon, a couple of hours after my appointment I had contractions that started again. I called Keith around 2:30pm and told him that I think it would be a good idea if he picked up the kids because I didn't want to drive. Well, around 5pm that evening after 5 hours of contractions 10 minutes apart everything stopped. I was a bit disappointed, but thought things would start up again in the early morning hours. I was very surprised throughout the night and morning that my contractions did not pick up. They came and went always 10 minutes apart. The next morning, I decided after dropping Phoenix off at Angela's, that I would go to the YMCA for a walk. Keith dropped Axel off at school and decided to work from home. During my hour walk I had to slow down every 10 minutes to get through the contractions. They were not intense but I couldn't walk very fast because they were uncomfortable. After a nice long shower, eating lunch, finishing laundry and cleaning up the house, I realized that my contractions were getting more intense and closer together. I decided to rest for an hour with my relaxation music. I was able to slow down my contractions from every 5 minutes to every 7 minutes by resting. When I got up again Keith noticed I was stopping more frequently, every 3 to 5 minutes. It was 2:30pm in the afternoon so I decided to call Labor and Delivery. After hearing my symptoms and because it was my 3rd child they asked me to come in.  Here is the final shot of my belly as we left for the hospital.

 We arrived around 3:30pm and were in the observation room at 4pm. I was surprised I was only 4cm dilated. They asked me to go for another walk. I was more than happy because I wanted to keep labor from stalling. I was only up on my feet for half an hour, with very little walking, before I had to lie down for each contraction. I could no longer handle them standing up. My contractions were lasting 1-2 minutes and coming every 3 minutes. Because of their intensity, I was surprised that when they checked me an hour later, at 5pm, that I was only 4.5 cm dilated, although I was 85% effaced.

They decided to put me in a room, but the process was taking a very long time. I felt the baby was going to come around 9pm and it was already 5pm and I was suppose to get antibiotics for 4 hours before delivery because of testing positive for GBS. They didn't get the antibiotics started until 6:15 pm and I wasn't in the room until 7pm. By 8pm I could no longer handle the contractions. I was extremely frustrated I couldn't get into a relaxed state with everything that was going on around me.

Everything that I had been working on for months wasn't working. I broke down and asked for something to help with the pain. I was hoping for a shot of Tylenol since that had worked wonderfully during my short labor with Trip 2 earlier in the year. I was shocked when they said they don't give Tylenol because they didn't think it would work. My other option was a narcotic that would make the baby drowsy if I had him too quickly. The only other option was the epidural so I said I wanted asap. I had the epidural put in at 8:30pm and to my surprise it didn't work! The only thing it did was make my back numb. They had me go side to side trying to spread it. When they checked me I was a 9.5 cm and completely effaced. They said because I was dilating so quickly is the reason why it wasn't working. I was even more frustrated. Luckily, some how at 9:30pm I realized instead of the intense contraction throughout my abdomen I was having stabbing left sided back pain. It was the best pain I ever felt. I was so relieved to feel something different. By 10pm the back pain was gone and the epidural was in full effect. I was ready to push so I asked for them to turn off the epidural. They thought I was crazy, but I wanted to feel again and I know it takes a couple of hours to wear off. They obliged and turned it off. At 10:20pm I was starting to feel quite a bit already. Because the pain was returning quickly I started to get a little worried that maybe I had made a mistake. I asked if I could please start pushing. At 10:25pm I was set up and given the green light to push and at 10:33pm Rubix was born!

I was absolutely in heaven to meet our 3rd child. He was the most gorgeous baby I had ever seen. I was instantly in love and shocked at the same time to be a mom again. I know most people think it is strange, but it is always hard for me to believe that my big abdomen equals a baby. As you can see from the picture Keith and I were glowing with excitement.

 Keith and I guessed his weight right before he came out. I guessed 8 lbs 6 oz. Keith guessed 8 lbs 2 oz. To both of our amazement Keith was right on as Rubix weighed in at 8 lbs 2.5 oz. By the time they took the weight and height Rubix was already 2 hours old and everyone was gone except our attending nurse. She measure his height at 18 inches. There was no way that he was only 18 inches and both Keith and I saw she was struggling to get him to straighten out his legs. Keith and I knew they needed to weigh Rubix before discharge so we let the height thing go and focused on our beautiful child.

 Here is daddy and Rubix as we were waiting for our room in the mother baby unit.

 Rubix's first bath at 4:30am. They are required to wait a minimum of 6 hours until their temperatures stabilize. Rubix was running a bit low but after skin to skin time it came up enough to give him a bath.

Everyone at the hospital was fantastic. They knew we wanted to go home as soon as possible. Everyone worked really hard to make this happen. He had his circumcision, hearing test, blood work and oxygen test all in time for us to be released.

 Here is Rubix being weighed just before discharge. He weighed 7 lbs 12.9 oz and measure 19 and 3/4 inches!  What a huge difference when you have two people measuring :)

 Aunt Shannon was our angel as she worked from home on Tuesday, out of instinct, after I talked to her on Monday night. She was able to leave her house around 2:30pm. She had all 3 kids picked up and was home by 4:30pm. Axel, Phoenix and Braylin had a fun evening playing, eating and bathing together. The next morning, Auntie dropped Axel off at school and then Phoenix at daycare and then headed to the hospital for a quick visit. Here is Auntie and Braylin meeting Rubix. We were extremely grateful for the help and can't thank Auntie enough!

We were not sure what we were going to do about getting the kids from school and daycare, but somehow everything worked out. One of Axel's friend's mom offered to pick up the kids and bring them to the hospital. We were extremely thankful that Mae was able to bring the kids so that they could meet Rubix. It also helped us get disharged even earlier than expected. They started the discharge process at 6:30pm and we were home by 7:45pm (Typically you have to wait until the baby is 24 hours old). I was able to get the kids to sleep by 8:15 and it made the transition home that much easier.

 Here is Axel holding Rubix. He brought him a rainbow football for a present. Phoenix was a bit overwhelmed and couldn't sit still for the picture. She brought Rubix a rainbow basketball for a present.

 Daddy, myself and Rubix!

 First Family Photo!

Axel and PHoenix are transitioning very well. Axel is the biggest helper in the world. He is the sweetest big brother and loves to love on Rubix. Phoenix loves all of Rubix's gadgets. She is hot and cold with him as expected, but when she is into him she is just as sweet as Axel is. Here she is reading to Rubix. 

This weekend was busy. Axel had a baseball game and birthday party on Saturday. The game was during nap time so Phoenix, Rubix and I stayed home. Daddy and Axel had a blast at the game and party. Bummer that we don't have any pictures. 

On Sunday Phoenix had her friend Macey's birthday party. It was at West Valley Gymnastics. It took Phoenix about 20 minutes to warm up but she had a great time with her friends. 

 The party was 2 miles away from the house and luckily very short. Phoenix was very sweet and after eating some snacks was okay taking her cake to go so that we could get home to Rubix.

There is more to share but to keep this post from getting any longer I will start a new post with awesome pictures of Rubix and the kids.

Opening Day for Spring Ball 2016

The past two weeks I have been busy with scrapbooking and appointments. At my 38 week appointment I was 2 cm and 50% effaced. I was 4 cm and much more effaced with Phoenix at 38 weeks. I am excited to find out how things are progressing on Tuesday during my next appointment. We are all getting excited and anxious to meet our new addition. 

On Wednesday I took the Tuscan in for an oil change because it has been 6 months since we bought it. I can't believe we have already had the Tuscan for 6 months. It had to get software updates. Something was recalled and had to be updated. This technology thing is really amazing to me.

On Thursday Phoenix and I had some nice park time before going to story time. She is really becoming quite the character. She is beyond silly and quite clever. I love this picture!

We were surprised to see Angela, Brooklyn and Aisha at story time. Angela had been talking about joining us for story time for months so I was quite surprised to see her finally there with two of Pheeny's favorite people. I just love the picture of the three of them!

On Friday we were excited to finally get some rain. After school and chess club instead of getting ready for baseball practice we went down to check out the stream. We were pleasantly surprised to see the stream already flowing with water since it had been bone dry the day before.

Axel had big news when I went to pick him up from chess club. He had finished the first book, the Egg book, and took the Snake test. He got promoted to a Snake and received the Snake book. He was very excited and Daddy and I were very proud. He has only been playing chess for a month and a half and really has very good understanding of the game. I have a lot to learn since I don't know chess at all. Both Daddy and Axel want me to go through the Egg book so that I can play with Axel. I just have to start and finish their 2015 scrapbook and then I promised them I would learn chess.

Last weekend it was beautiful out so I took the kids to Jack Fischer Park. We ran into one of his school mates, Toby, who just happened to be having his birthday party there.  In one of those awkward moments his mom invited us to the party. We kindly said thank you. Axel played a bit with Toby before we had to head home for lunch and nap time, just about when the party got started. It was a fun impromtu play date.

Today was the big day we have been waiting for. It was opening day for little league. The only bummer was that it was raining out, with torrential rains and flooding expected for the afternoon and evening. They decided to still have opening ceremony because it was easier to have in the rain than reschedule. I thought this was a great picture of everyone with their umbrellas. A funny site for us Californians.

Phoenix was able to see her buddy Macey there since her older brother Matthew plays AAA ball.

Here are all of the teams from T-ball to Majors out on the field. If you look closely you can see Axel and Keith in the middle of the picture. We had over half the team missing because it was the last game of the winter basketball season that his teammates are on.

We had two special surprises during opening ceremonies. One was the Rolling Hills Middle School band played the National Anthem.

Second was the San Jose Giants mascot, Gigante, was there to celebrate and entertain during the morning festivities. Macey and Phoenix were a little scared to meet Gigante, but eventually did with a little help from us moms. I hope that Macey's mom will send me the photos soon.

The games were all cancelled for the day because of the heavy downpours, but they still had their team and individual pictures taken. 

Axel has been quite sick with a cold all week that climaxed today after standing out in the rain for an hour this morning. Hopefully he will be 100% soon. I have been dealing with a mild cold or allergies all week as well. Hopefully the next time I post it will be all about baby brother! 1 week to go!!!!