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.