Easter in Arizona Part 1 of 4

Michelle, Drew, and I headed down to Arizona as soon as I got off of work on Tuesday. The drive was very windy all along I-15 and slowed us down quite a bit. Once we got onto the 89 it was smooth sailing. Drew did a fantastic job at staying asleep the whole trip, except a few times to eat, until we were a little less than an hour away from home. It took us a little more than ten and a half hours to get to my parent’s house and into bed.
Wednesday was a pretty easy going day. We had a visit from two of my sisters and some of their kids. Hailey and Peyton couldn’t wait to hold their new cousin, but after a few minutes they had had enough.

Later that night Rachael flew in from Utah and joined us for the rest of the trip. We would have the whole Cardon family in Arizona for Easter. Before bed, Drew gave us a scare with his umbilical hernia. We weren’t able to get it to recess and he was getting fussy. The doctor had told us to call any time this happened. We gave the on call pediatrician a call and he told us to try for an hour to slowly work it down, but if it didn’t work we needed to go to the ER. He was so hungry Michelle started feeding him. While he was relaxed he passed some gas and we checked his belly button. It had recessed all the way down. We were relieved that it didn’t turn out to be anything major.
Thursday was a beautiful, sunny day. Utah had received a good amount of snow the day before and we weren’t at all missing the freezing temperatures. We had more time with my sisters sitting around talking and then we took a little shopping trip. We had plans of attending the Mesa, Arizona Temple Easter Pageant and sent Rachael and Christin to try and save us seats. Because they now don’t allow people to save seats, Christin was the only one there and there would be no guarantee to get seats together. Luckily Emily and her family, along with the rest of Christin’s family, arrived and we got 4th and 5th row seats in the center section. Michelle and I arrived a little less than an hour before it would start. We brought our dinner and enjoyed eating and talking with everyone.

The Easter Pageant talks about the life, from birth to death, of the savior through spoken word and song. It is the most well attended of all pageants of the church, and includes a cast of over 450 people. Although it got a little cold, all of the kids enjoyed the production very much. Drew didn’t fall asleep as we had planned and we spent most of the time bouncing him up and down to keep him quite. Near the end Michelle got up to take him to the side lines.

Before the pageant started I told Michelle that my favorite part is when Jesus flies at the end of the production. Michelle made sure to come back to see this part. Unfortunately it wasn’t what she expected. Jesus really doesn’t fly he is just lifted above the angels as if he is floating by himself high above the stage surrounded by mist, and all illuminated. It looks cool because he is in bright white against the dark of night. I wish I would have gotten a picture of it.

Michelle’s favorite thing about the pageant was that it only lasted just over an hour. It was the first time she has ever stayed awake for one of these things. I guess having to take care of Drew might have had something to do with her alertness, but she was glad we were able to see it.

Early Easter with the Martin's

Since most of us were either going to be out of the state or at the in laws, the Martin's decided to have Easter together as a family the Sunday before. Like always, it is nice to get everyone possible together to spend time with one another. Each family in attendance was given a part of the dinner to prepare and bring. The dinner turned out great and was really good.

Because the weather was so nice we were able to visit outside for a little while after we were done with dinner.

We made sure and got a group picture including the Easter Bunny. All of Carol's kids made fun of her for bringing the bunny, but she couldn't help it.

As always Carol had some activities for the family. The first was an Easter egg hunt. She hid more than eighty eggs in the backyard and we went at it. I held Drew while Michelle went looking for eggs, but when I had a chance Drew and I found four of our own eggs. After the hunt was over we were told that some of the eggs had money in them. Neither Michelle, Drew, or I had any money, but the candy was plenty enough although we ended up leaving it at their house.

Even Grandma Nana had success with the hunt.

Drew enjoyed the hunt from the comfort of his father's arms. I made sure he kept warm by using my expert wrapping abilities. The tighter the better.

The second game involved shooting the bow and arrow, yes the same ones used in our turkey turd game. Each person had three tries to shoot the target. Those that had the best out of three shots got a date with Carol and Glenn. What was the target you ask? It was the Easter Bunny. Luckily the kids are too young to remember this violent, possibly traumatic, experience.

There is never a dull moment when we get together and that rings even truer when most of those in attendance are girls. These Martin women are something else. Jill and Rachel were missed.

Grandma Nana was able to hold Drew for the first time. She was a little hesitant at first because she worried she wouldn't be able to hold him up, but by the end of the evening I just handed him to her. Don't worry I stood close by.

Chelsea and Darren were good enough to come down from Idaho the night before to be with everyone. We were sad to see them leave and even sadder when we thought of the drive they had to make before they would get home, but the party wouldn't have been the same without them. We had a really great time and can't wait till the next get together.

Drew got Shot....................ssssssss, OUCH!!!

Drew hit two months today (two weeks according to actual due date) and had the unpleasant experience of getting his first round of immunizations. I wasn't able to be at the doctor's appointment, but Michelle said he definitely turned purple when he got them. When I saw him after his appointment he was just sleeping. All that crying must have made him tired.




Drew's stats are usually graded on an adjusted scale to account for his prematurity, but today he made it onto the normal chart. Drew has been gaining weight at a constant ounce and a half a day and is now over twice his birth weight at 8 lbs 4 oz (1%). He is almost 4 inches taller at 21 in (2%), and his head is getting larger, because his brain is getting so big, at 37.6 cm (7%). Besides all of his growing, and probably most important, he is now off of his oxygen and has been for the last week. It is amazing how much easier it is to move and take him places without it. We are so proud of his progress and hope he continues to do well.

Happy Birthday Michelle

Happy Birthday to You,

Happy Birthday to You,

Happy Birthday Dear Michelle,

Happy Birthday to You!

I hope you have a wonderful 31st Birthday!

Make sure and Send her an Email, Text, or even give her a call. She deserves it.

Grandma Cardon Visitis

My mother came into town for a couple of days this past week to see Drew and help out where she could. It was her first time being able to see him in person and enjoyed every second of her trip. We spent most of our time just hanging out at our place talking, but we made a few trips to some of our favorite places.

We introduced Letherby's to my parents when they came to visit a few times ago and it has been a must for them ever since and made sure it was on our list of stops for some good ice cream. We made a trip to one of Rachael's basketball games and enjoyed watching her make a few three pointers. Of course my mom had to get some pictures with Drew to have proof that she really did see him.

We even sent her home with some so she could display them in her house and take one to her work.


We gave her an iPod Shuffle as an early Mother's Day gift and we think she really likes it. We had opened it and put some music on it for her before we gave it to her so she didn't have to worry to much about it and also so we could see if she would know how to use it. All that night she kept the earphones in even when she wasn't listening to anything. She wanted to make sure that they would work with her ears. Because it is Michelle's birthday this month we had a Tucano's coupon and decided to use it while my mom was still in town on her last day so she could experience one of our twice a year, for birthdays, traditions. Rachael and Amy joined us and we had a great time. I think my mom liked it a lot and I know my dad might be a little jealous that he wasn't there to partake of the good food.

All in all her visit was wonderful, but short. Lucky for her and the rest of my family we are making a trip down to Arizona in just over a week. We will see how it is to travel with a baby. Before I leave you I just wanted to post this picture of Drew in an outfit we just got thanks to Leonor. He was hungry at the time we wanted to take the pictures so he wasn't too happy, but either way he is cute.

Aubs

Why I love Aubrey!

I met Aubrey in our stake singles ward over seven years ago. She is one of my closest friends and we always joke that she is one of the Martin sisters. She is one of the most amazing people I know. During the last few weeks, I have realized more and more why she is such an amazing person. I just wanted her to know my top 10 reasons why I love her.

1. She is the most compassionate person you will ever meet.
2. She always puts others needs above her own.
3. She has a way a getting things done
4. She is a great cook
5. She travels “Martin Style”
6. She loves to exercise
7. She inspires other to be better
8. She has helped me immensely over the last 7 weeks (meals, visits, phone calls, babysitting)
9. She has put up with the entire Martin family for the last 7 years.
10. She is my adopted sister.
Thanks Aubrey for being such a great friend. I hope that I can help you out one day like you have helped me out these last few weeks. I really appreciate it. Thanks again!!!!

It's Finally Here...... Drew's Due Date

March 10, 2010

Today is Drew's official due date. It is weird to look back and think of what we have been through during the last six and a half weeks. We had been set on March 10th as his due date ever since we had our first doctor's appointment. After Michelle was put on bed rest we started getting use to the idea of having him on February 17th. It never crossed our mind that he would arrive in January. If you have read the previous posts you will know the amazing journey that Drew, and Michelle and I, have been through. He is no longer the little baby that he once was. He has grown in height by 3 inches and weight by almost 3 lbs and is stronger than you think. He has changed so much and continues to amaze us each day.

We wouldn't trade this extra time that we have been able to spend with him for anything. You can't put a price on these kinds of experiences. Today was a big day in our books, but the day that Drew actually came is even bigger. We love you Drew.

The Dreaded Appointment...... Sorry Drew

March 8, 2010
Today Drew had his circumcision appointment. We got hi dressed and put him in his car seat for another outing. I hope he doesn't remember this day.

After we arrived we didn’t have to wait long before they took us back to the exam room. We had them take all of his measurements before they started the procedure. Since Drew’s due date is in two days, March 10th, this will be a good representation of what he would have been if he had stayed in. Drew is now 6 lbs 12 oz (23%) almost 3 lbs more than when he was born, 20.25 inches long (78%), and has a head circumference of 36.1 cm (81%). All of his percentiles are based on preterm data. I think he would have weighed even more if he had made it to term and Michelle’s placenta hadn’t lost function. Either way he has done a good job at growing. Our doctor came in and talked to us about the procedure and asked if we had any questions. It was pretty straight forward. Michelle originally wanted to send me in solo to be there for Drew, but in the end she thought she could handle it and we headed to another room for the deed.

The procedure was slightly different than we thought it would be from the description, but Drew handled it like a man. It could have been the sugar water that Michelle was giving him, or the local anesthetic that helped, but I was impressed either way. Once we got back into the exam room it was time to get his Synagis shot. Synagis is a shot to help reduce the chances of acquiring RSV as well as lessening its affects on a child is acquired. Since Drew was premature, but born after 33 weeks the NICU didn’t give him any shots. Our doctor thought it would be beneficial to see if our insurance would cover it and give it to him. Our insurance finally approved a one time dose and a girl came in to administer it. This is when he cried. As soon as she stuck him he turned all red/purple and cried like I had never seen before. After a minute or so Michelle cradled him and he stopped and began to get tired. After a few minutes of waiting to see if he had any reaction to the shot we were able to go.

We set up his next appointment for the 24th of this month. It will be his two month check-up and vaccinations. From this recent experience I don’t think he will like it. Michelle and I enjoyed eating at East Coast Subs located next to the hospital while Drew slept in the car seat. After a quick trip home to feed Drew, we went to finally get our tires replaced on the CR-V. It has taken over two weeks, but we are glad that Honda got their act together and did what we wanted and what they should have done a long time ago. We enjoyed a nice visit from Kim and Stephanie, Mark and Matt’s wives, this evening and have spent the rest of the evening catching up on the blog. Michelle and Drew are asleep now and I am finally caught up with our blog. I hope I haven't board you all over the past week.