Where is summer?

I think I need to become better friends with Mother Nature.

She seems to be teasing Southeast Idaho with little bits of sunshine mixed in with lots of clouds and rain. What's with that?

But in our little bits of sunshine we have managed to take full advantage. Since we have moved into our home, it's been almost 3 years now, our yard has gone from completely bare, no grass, just dirt and weeds. We got grass put in last summer, and I have slowly been putting in plants. Well we had 1 good day of sunshine this week after days and days of straight rain. Then we got a great deal on some bark for our planters and I never thought it would make such a huge difference, but it does.

Before the bark...




Don't my tulips and Dahlia's look pretty against the fence? I think so, in the fall I think I am going to plant more so it looks more full. It will look nice I think.

After the bark...
It's amazing how big of a difference it makes right?! We had a small family/friends BBQ yesterday evening and I can't even count the number of compliments we got on such a huge transformation our yard has made since last summer. I'm not much of a green thumb, but I think I can eventually, adding one thing at a time, we will get a full, colorful, and beautiful garden area. A little bit at a time!

6 Years? Really?

Adam turned 6 on Monday...phew...I had to just throw that out there. I get a little emotional just typing it out. It has gone so fast and Adam came into this world in such a dramatic way, I should have known he would be such an attention getter (he is my son after all!). I don't think I have ever shared his story of how he came to this world...here goes it!

Here Ben and I were young, in love, recently married and a bouncing baby boy on the way. I was due JULY 17, 2005! On May 14 we celebrated Ben's 20th birthday just hanging out, doing some shopping, enjoying some alone time together. But that night Ben started to feel a little sick. He had a full blown fever by the next morning, Sunday the 15th of May.

I spent the day just lounging around with him and starting to not feel so well myself. I figured I was starting to catch whatever it was that he had. Bummer :(

So around 4pm on Sunday I told Ben I was going to go lay down for bit and probably take a nap, he said he was starting to feel better and he needed to run to his shop to finish up some work, so down for a nap I went. After laying there for about 5 minutes, I noticed that I was starting to cramp a little, then they would go away, and then come back...every 5 minutes. As soon as I realized what was happening, I called my Doctor's office and they said I should go to the hospital to get checked out, I was probably just having Braxton Hicks contractions, no biggie.

So I run out and stop Ben from heading to work so he can run me to the hospital. He looked immediately panicked. Mind you I am only 30 weeks along in a 40 week pregnancy. There's no way I'd have a baby tonight!

We get to the hospital around 5pm. They hook me up, see the contractions and give me a shot that is supposed to stop the contractions. It slows them to about every 7 minutes. So they give me another shot at 7pm and it slows them to every 10 minutes. So they give me that last and final shot at 8pm slowing them to about every 20-30 minutes! So we figured we were in the clear. They came in at 10 and said they Dr. would be in to check me at 10:30 and then we could go home. I was so relieved.

10:30 came around with the Dr. He checked me and I had dilated to 1 cm. Which I hadn't done anything like that all night. He looked confused, as did everyone else. So he told me that he was going to keep me overnight, and put me on an IV drip to completely stop my contractions but it took 24 hours to finish the cycle. They called it the BIG M! Sounds scary right?

Within 10 minutes of having the BIG M, my contractions were every minute, and more painful than anything I have ever felt. Everyone was confused, scared, I was terrified! We did an Amniotic fluid check and discovered that there was an infection in the fluid surrounding the baby, and he had to come out before things got worse.

All I remember at that moment when they said we had to have him tonight was saying to Ben "We don't even have a car seat yet! How will we take him home?" through sobbing tears. Ben held it together pretty good though.

I couldn't have the baby at the hospital I was at because they didn't have a NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit). So I needed to be transferred to another hospital. While waiting for my transportation (A HELICOPTER!) my water broke at about 3am Monday morning. They finally got the helicopter and I was life flighted to LDS hospital within a matter of minutes. I never thought my first helicopter ride would be an emergency.

Ben met us at the hospital within minutes as well as my mother who had driven up from Idaho to be with me. I had gotten so sick too during this time, my fever had spiked to 104+ by the time I went in for my emergency C-Section. I felt horrible, and wanted it all to be okay.

At 8:58am, Adam Benjamin Tolman was brought into this world. He weighed 3 pounds, and was 16 inches long. He was really long for being so early, but so skinny. It was a really tough battle at first.
His lungs were not developed so he had to be on a ventilator.
He had 2 holes in his heart because he hadn't had enough time to close them.
He had really bad Acid reflux so every time he tried to eat, he would forget to breath and would basically choke.

It was tough, but so was my little Adam! He spent 62 days in the hospital and came home weighing 7 lbs 7 oz the day before his due date!

Looking at him now you would never know that he was a preemie, and I can't believe he is already 6! Time flies!

Happy Birthday Adam!

It's about time!

This week was so stressful, but worth it. I had applied to the College of Education at ISU in March, and I had jumped through all the hoops. Pulled the GPA I needed, did a background check, passed through the interview process. All I had to do was pass two classes this semester and I was in. One being a computer class, not a big deal. The other unfortunately had to be a Math class that I had to pull a B in. And you all know how much Math and I just are not friends.

So all week I have been STRESSING out because I took my Math final on Tuesday, and it was BRUTAL! One of the hardest exams I've ever taken.

Then I finally got an email on Friday telling me that I passed the class with the B that I needed! I was so excited, forwarded my grade on to the Education Department and got my notice that I am
OFFICIALLY GRANTED INTO THE EDUCATION PROGRAM!!!!!!

I know you are all as excited as I am! Yay me!

Now at least I know I am off on the right track to go into my last year of classes then onto student teaching!
ALMOST DONE!!!!