Issac's First Haircut--5 Months Old

Well, Issac has the hair of a mad scientist as of late and since he has started eating solids, I am having to give more baths each day than I have time for. Sean and I decided that even though Issac was only 5 months old, it was time for a haircut.

Here is the before picture:

And here is the after:

This is the final product. Everyone got their haircut and are all looking pretty spiffy!

Locks of Love

This past weekend, we've had a "cleaning up" session going on here at our house. Out with the old, in with the new kind of stuff. About a month ago, I had mentioned to Abby that we should cut her hair and we could donate it to Locks of Love and help some kids who don't have hair due to health problems. At first, she wasn't interested. But I showed her the website and we've talked about it at different times and I could see that she was warming up to the idea. Well, today we took the plunge and she had 9 1/2 inches cut. I cried. I'll be honest. After she had it done, she said, "Now I can send it to a kid who really needs it, Mommy!" My heart was bursting! What a selfless act!

BEFORE

AFTER

Little Guy Growing Up

It's Bath Time with all the little Rocks!

Issac hanging out with Daddy

He is such a HAPPY baby! Issac love to play with all of his toys and Abby and Jaxon make sure he has plenty to play with!

Missing You

Today, I had an epiphany of sorts. I had dropped Abby and Jaxon off at preschool and on Thursdays, they get to stay for an extra hour for Lunch Bunch. I ran a couple of errands and while I was driving in the parking lot, I saw a bright yellow truck with a bumblebee on it and I shouted out, "Look Jaxon! There's a bumblebee truck!" He wasn't in the car. It was just second nature to point something like that out to him. I realized in that moment that I missed having Abby and Jaxon with me all the time. They are now in the care of someone else for a few hours each day and I miss them. I miss the fighting, the hugs, the smiles and giggles, the begging to go to the toy aisle just for a moment. I have looked forward to the day when both of them would be in school and now that it is here, I miss them.

My little guy

My little guy

Issac Jeffrey Rock

My little Picasso's

We told the kids that when we moved into our new house, they would be able to pick colors for their rooms and we would paint. Since my appendix decided that it just HAD to come out the week before we were supposed to move, the painting didn't get done. It's been 2 months now since we've been in this house and we are finally getting around to painting. This was Abby and Jaxon painting Abby's room. They were getting paint all over themselves so we stripped them down to the bare minimum and they had a ball! Sean was such a trooper--I seriously thought he was going to go nuts with all of the "are we going to paint yet?" questions he was getting!

First day of School

So, it's our first day of preschool and the kids were so excited! And to be honest, so was mom!

Jax could hardly wait to see Mrs. Bachus and Mrs. DeLoca and to play in the sandbox. He's been waiting a whole year!

Abby was so excited to be in the 4's class! She was a little nervous to meet her new teachers but she had so much fun once she got there!

Getting ready to walk out the door

Issac on the first day of school. He was just chillin' and waiting to hop in the car. He's such a mellow baby!

It's been a while.......

Wow! Where does the time go? It's been 3 months since I last posted and I can't believe that it has flown by so quickly! Issac is now 3 months old, Abby and Jaxon have started preschool and Sean is super busy at work. I'm just plugging along, trying to keep up with all of them and trying to figure out what to do with myself.

So, an update as to what has happened over the past few months:

June: Issac was born on the 9th and we had the wonderful opportunity to have my mom come and be here to help for that first week. How great that my mom was able to drop everything she was doing to come and help us out on such short notice. We really appreciated it! Then, Sean's mom, Georgetta, was able to come out and help us for 2 1/2 weeks. We were very well taken care of with meals being prepared and the kids were entertained. I think that the reason that I heal so quickly from my c-sections is because I have such incredible help so I am able to focus on the baby and healing.

July: Georgetta left on July 4th and we had a very quiet day. The following week on the 9th, I wasn't feeling very well and came home after a very busy day and just collapsed into bed. My right side and back were hurting really bad and I could barely breathe. I tried to get some sleep through the night but by the next morning, I couldn't hardly move. Sean ended up taking me to the ER where they told us that my appendix was inflamed and needed to be removed. Between the time that I had the CT scan and the time that I went into the OR, my appendix ruptured. Here I was, just barely 4 weeks out from having a c-section and I was back in the hospital having a useless organ being removed. What a joy!

The best part about all of that was we were scheduled to move the following weekend. We had just started packing things up and then all of that happened. I made a call to my mom and she was on the next plane back out here. Again, we were so grateful that she was so willing to come and help us and for my dad and sisters who picked up the slack with mom being gone and took care of Grandpa Smith. My mom not only cooked, cleaned, packed and took care of my children for us but she allowed me to heal, physically and emotionally. She was here for 10 days and then she left. Meanwhile, I had also made a call to the 1st counselor in the Relief Society presidency and told her of my predicament and she told me not to worry--she would take care of everything. The next day at church, Sean was given a list of people who would be providing meals for our family for that week as well as she had arranged for a sister to call every morning to see what needed to be packed or cleaned so that we would have an extra set of hands to be able to get our house packed up. It was amazing! By the following Saturday, our house had been packed up, loaded up, moved and unpacked within a couple of hours plus the Falk's had mowed our lawn. It was a very humbling experience. Never have we lived in a ward that has been so efficient and willing to serve! I can't begin to thank them enough!

August: We were able to have Grandpa Rock come out to visit and he took the kids to the aquarium and to Terhune farms. He helped Sean organize our garage and he helped to get the yard looking nice. It was great to have him come and visit us and to meet Issac. He's so proud that there are now not one but TWO little boys to carry on the Rock name.

The first weekend in August, we blessed Issac. It almost didn't happen due to massive rain and flooding. We woke up on Sunday morning to rain, which wasn't a big deal. But then we looked outside and in front of our house was a lake. We couldn't get the cars out of the driveway without them getting caught in all of the water. There were police outside, blocking off the street with barricades. It was insane! Sean decided that he was going to drive the Civic across the lawn and onto a street that wasn't flooded so that mom, Issac and I could get out. He then piled the two grandpas, Abby and Jaxon and himself into the van and told the officer that he HAD to get to church and he was willing to risk getting stuck in the water. So off he went and was able to get through the lake without the van flooding. He was able to get to the church before mom, Issac and I did and then he had to tell the Bishop that the baby wasn't there to bless. Could he just hold on a minute? I got a frantic phone call from Sean telling me to just pull up to the front door and hand the baby to him while I parked. I told him no, that I wasn't going to miss Issac's blessing so I could park. I was pretty sure that Bishop Welch would understand (and he did). Sean gave Issac a beautiful blessing and I really felt that the Lord was watching out for us that day.

We were able to go on our annual Utah trip to visit family and this year was an extra special trip because we were able to celebrate my Grandpa Smith's 90th birthday. What a wonderful time we had! The kids got to play with their cousins and spend one on one time with Grandpa, whom they affectionately call "Grandpa Sniff." We were able to introduce Issac to Grandpa and I got some wonderful pictures of the two of them. It was a great trip!

More Baby

Our first day home The proud big sister

Getting ready for bed

Grandma Erickson

First introduction to big brother and sister

Seeing mom for the first time in the hospital

What a whirlwind week it has been! I can't believe that Issac is almost 1 week old already! Sorry the pictures have been a little slow in coming. We've been a little busy adjusting to life with a newborn again.

Holly was able to come home on Thursday evening. Her "numb bum" couldn't handle the hospital bed for another night! Recovery is going really well and the kids have been wonderful little helpers. It has been so fun to watch them become more comfortable being around Issac. We were a little nervous at first but they are doing great.

Issac is such a mellow baby! He has allowed us to sleep for 6 hours straight at night--maybe he knows just how much his mama needs the rest to recover! However, Holly's chest isn't so grateful! No explanation needed on that one.

We feel so blessed as a family for the wonderful love and support that has been shown to us by family and friends. We don't know how we would have been able to pull this off on such short notice if we didn't have such an incredible support system. THANK YOU!!!!!!

Welcoming a New Little Rock: Issac

On Tuesday, June 9th we welcomed another pebble to our Rock Garden. We do live in the Garden State now and this is my first post:

Issac Jeffrey Rock was born at 8:38 am at the Princeton University Medical Center. He weighed 8 lbs 9oz and was measured at 20 inches long. Sounds like a rock to me, albeit a soft, squishy, pink one with a full head of dark brown hair and blue eyes, too. He has the smallest feet of all three of the kids, but the biggest cheeks and neck roll like our dog, Sadie. See below:

It not what you think! We have also recently welcomed a pink unicorn into the family, a gift Abby earned for being so brave while having new tubes put in her ears last Friday. That's right Dad has finally got the password to the BLOG:) Beware!

Mom is doing well recovering and we will all be back together at home by week's end. Abby and Jaxon are very excited to have a baby brother. In fact, Abby is already trying to take charge as the new mommy...

and Jaxon can't wait to to introduce Issac to one of his favorite superheros.

We will continue to keep the photos coming over the next few days, weeks, and months as there will be much more to share, so do come back and visit us again soon.

My Little Girl is Growing Up

So, Abby gave her first scripture in primary yesterday. We were so proud of her! She got up to the microphone and repeated the scripture about baptism and repentance without laughing (as she had been doing when we were practicing at home!) She was so excited to be able to do this and we are so well pleased with how well she is doing in her Sunbeam class.

She also has completed her first year of preschool and her first full year of dance class. She is so excited about next year, especially since she AND Jaxon will be going to the same preschool. She keeps telling Jaxon that he will get to have her teachers, Mrs. Bachus and Mrs. DeLoca in the 3's class while she gets to go to the 4's class. She has absolutely blossomed into such an independent little girl and I am so excited for her!

My Little Superman

Jaxon has become very enthralled with superheros as of late. This is evidenced by the Superman, Batman, and Spiderman costumes and pajamas that we have accumulated. There are days when I can't get him out of his pajamas so we go out in public with him dressed as a superhero. Oh, the comments we get!

Since Jax has been potty trained, we have also invested in Superhero underwear for him. He has decided that he doesn't like the fact that the pictures are on the behind instead of in the front, like his sister's. So, taking matters into his own hands one day, he put his underwear on backwards so he could see the pictures and that's how he wears them now. That's my boy!

That's Not How Daddy Does It!

So, Abby came to me and asked me to help her wrap her baby in a special blanket. Of course, I said okay. So, I carefully wrap the baby up, using the method that I've used since I was a little girl and gently swaddled the baby with care and handed it over to my little 4 year old. She immediately says, "That's not how daddy does it!"

"Well, how does daddy do it?" I asked incredulously.

"He wraps her in a circle. You need to do it like daddy does it!"

I stood there for a moment, dumbfounded. I'm the mom. I should be able to wrap a baby doll and have my little girl be okay with the job I've done for her.

So, I immediately head into the room where Sean is at and ask him how he wraps the baby.

"Well, it's not that hard, Holly. You just put the baby on one side of the blanket and roll it, like in a circle" and he and Abby proceed to educate me on the finer points of wrapping a baby doll.

I've learned something new today.

Baby Rock the 3rd's 3-D Debut

Well, we still don't have a name for this little guy. And for those of you who are desperate to know, we will probably be keeping you guessing until he is born. Gotta have some surprises! Sean was so sweet and for Mother's Day, this was my gift--to see our little man in 3-D! We've had the opportunity and privilege of being able to do this with Abby and Jaxon and we couldn't NOT do it with this last one. So, we took Abby and Jaxon with us and our whole family had the opportunity to meet our little guy. It was a lot of fun for us, however, the baby wasn't overly cooperative so we weren't able to get fantastic pictures but we were able to see him nonetheless. He definitely is a Rock! He has a head of hair (which I didn't have until I was almost a year old) and he has the Rock nose. It's amazing to me how seeing him in utero makes it almost surreal. I am getting so excited to meet him! This video is of his hands and feet all wrapped around his head.

This video is of his face (it starts upside down and then flips over) and of his hand waving.

In this video, you can see his face pretty well and the white thing in front of his face that he is playing with is the umbilical cord.

Baby Rock the 3rd is a..........................

So, here's our little guy! We found out a couple of weeks ago that we are expecting another little boy and we are so excited that he is healthy, strong and finally not making me so sick!

Jaxon was able to come to the ultrasound with us and the u/s tech was awesome! She made sure to point out all of the parts and Jaxon was absolutely fascinated by it. She even gave him his own little picture that he has carried around and makes sure to tell people that he is going to have a little brother.

The kids have been great throughout this whole pregnancy. They have been so sweet and understanding when I've been really sick and they've even helped me when I've had some really bad low blood sugars. It's amazing to me that they know what to do when mom needs some help. I couldn't ask for better kids!

We've been really swamped this past month with Abby and Jaxon's birthdays and gearing up for Valentine's day. We've also had some amazing success in the potty training department with both of the kids. Abby is now sleeping through the night and not having accidents and Jaxon is fully potty trained during the day and is trying to catch up to Abby where the night time is concerned. They are so helpful and supportive of one another. I love to watch them encourage each other!

Sean is doing amazing at work. He has received a lot of praise from his bosses about the work that he does. In turn, they are continually passing on more responsibilities to him and he is doing an amazing job. We feel so blessed to have a job and one that is constantly providing Sean with a challenge--there's never a dull moment!

Hopefully, I won't go so long between posts. We'll see!

Just a Little Scare

So, now that we've let everyone know that we are expecting, let me give you a little update as to what has been happening to us since we decided to embark on this little adventure we call pregnancy. We all know the history of how we were stationed with the Coast Guard in Puerto Rico and there was not adequate medical care to handle my diabetes and a pregnancy there so I was shipped off to my parents home for both pregnancies while Sean stayed in Puerto Rico, visiting when he could. This was not optimal but it made it possible for us to have two beautiful, healthy babies which was what we were after. This time around, we figured that since we were stateside, it would be smooth sailing and that especially since we were back East, it would be really easy to find an OB and an Endocrinologist (diabetic doc) who we felt comfortable and confident in like we did there in Utah. But, oh no. This has not been the case! After a very frustrating, emotional first 10 weeks of me being emotionally battered (okay, that might seem a little drastic) because of my choice to have a (GASP!!!!) third child, we decided that we were going to look elsewhere for an OB who used modern technology and who didn't use archaic ideas of how to treat a diabetic pregnancy that were from 20 years ago. After much searching (and lots of praying for me to humble myself and realize that I can't have the perfect team like I did there in Utah) we were able to get into an OB yesterday whom I love! He is so laid back and figures that his specialty is delivering babies and not diabetes and that is why I was employing an endo to help me in this journey. We were so pleased with his happy personality and willingness to listen to me and that he realized that I really did know a thing or two about being a pregnant diabetic. So, we go into the exam room and he wants to check the heartbeat using a doppler that allows us to hear it. Well, after about 5 minutes, he couldn't find the heartbeat. Let me tell you, he searched hard, going all over my belly and while doing that, he was quietly reassuring me that this happened all the time but I could see the look of concern start to come over his face. I was beginning to cry and feel like I had failed and a million thoughts started racing through my mind about how at the beginning of the pregnancy, I had told Heavenly Father that I couldn't do this again and to please take the baby back. How selfish could I have been! Out of sheer frustration with the doctor situation and my irritation at trying to figure out how I was going to logistically get to all those appointments that were being scheduled and take care of Abby and Jaxon at the same time, I had pleaded with the Lord to please just allow me to miscarry. As I think about it now, I am shocked that I could have had those thoughts. But as I was laying there on that table, crying because what I had asked for was potentially happening, I was devastated and angry at myself. As the doctor left the room to go and get the ultrasound machine, my sweet husband leaned over and took my hand and whispered that it was all going to be okay, that the Lord may have just needed us to get pregnant so this sweet little spirit could gain its body and that was all it needed--nothing more. It is so hard when you know that this is the Plan--it doesn't make it any easier. But to have my husband remind me of that and know that he was just as scared as I was, it made it easier to cope with the potential outcome of the ultrasound. The doctor came in and started the ultrasound and to our surprise and relief, there was our sweet little baby, waving to us with a very strong heartbeat. It had been hiding behind the placenta which was in an anterior (frontal) position which made it so we couldn't find the heartbeat. We couldn't find out the sex of the baby but to see it there and know that it was just fine, it made us both very grateful for the knowledge that we have of the Plan of Salvation and that no matter what happens during this pregnancy, we will be grateful for the opportunity that we've been given to help this little spirit accomplish whatever it's mission on this Earth is.

Making it Official

Well, since I'm starting to show, I guess that it is time for us to make it official and announce that we are expecting Baby Rock the 3rd! I'm 16 1/2 weeks along and we wanted to wait until after Christmas to start telling people because we were using the announcement as our Christmas gift to our family and didn't want to spoil the surprise. We are so excited for this new baby! Abby and Jaxon have been so cute about it. Abby tells everyone that we are having a baby sister for her (which, we don't know the sex of the baby yet so she's confusing everyone by saying this). Jaxon then will argue by telling people that we are having a baby brother for him (and I just want to clarify that we are NOT having twins!) so they are very excited about having a baby around. Jaxon has been very cute in the morning when he comes in at the crack of dawn, crawls into bed with me and puts his head on my belly and tells the baby to "be nice to Mommy." I've been really sick with morning sickness and it hasn't abated yet so this is so sweet for me to hear him coaching the baby already! We hope that everyone has a wonderful 2009 and we are certainly looking forward to all that is coming our way for the Rock family!