Our Latest Addition...

I will have to do a catch up post about the month of January, but the first couple of days of February have shaped up to be quite eventful!


Get excited--I am no longer this...(although I may or may not still have the double chin)


The day after this photo, we unexpectedly were headed to the hospital for a long night. Then, early Tuesday morning, a very handsome little boy arrived!

Ezra Ross Chambers was born, weighing 7 pounds 15 ounces and measuring 20 inches. He has lots of dark hair and has quickly stolen our hearts!









Adam isn't too interested in holding Ezra, but still thinks he's cute! Luke is still just pointing at him. As long as I will still cuddle up next to Luke to watch Curious George, his world is complete! I have a feeling there will be a lot of watching Curious George in the next couple of months! And by the way, Luke suddenly looks like a giant to us!

I will post more pictures soon, as soon as I can.

Progress

I am so happy to say that Luke is making some progress, although it is slight, I see a definite improvement in the last two days. He will wear the processors for over an hour at a time now. When he takes them off, he hands them back to me with a smile, like he knows that I am going to put them right back on. Most of the 50 times a day of putting them back on, there is less of a fight. And yes, 50 times is much better than 200 times!

We still haven't figured out how to keep them on in the car, but I am going to try some different beanies for him to wear.

I am still not completely sure what he is hearing with them on, he doesn't seem to respond to everything. But, he definitely turns his head to sounds like knocking on the wall or loud abrupt sounds. So, either he is not bothered by just the normal sounds of the tv or all of us talking or he is not completely picking that all up. Either way, I am just thankful he is tolerating wearing them more and more everyday. Wahoo!

Now for some pictures!

I love this picture of Jack & Adam--Adam's messy hair and all! These two are so fun together. Adam has been so hilarious lately. Here's a sampling of his comments:
After a PB & J sandwich: "Uh, mom I am all sticky and jammy"
After waking me up at 4:00 am to come lay by him in bed, he pats his pillow and says, "Here's a great spot for you, you will fit right here."
The two mornings when he wakes up, he yells out, "Hello, Hello, is anyone there?"

Christmas morning was fun, Luke probably thought I was crazy waking him up at 6:00, but he loved his presents. Julia, Jack and Adam were anxiously awake at 6:00, the earliest we told them they could wake us up at!

I am realizing I have no idea what order these pictures will show up, so hopefully it will all make sense!

Tonight the Christmas tree comes down and while that's always a little sad, I am looking forward to a great new year. This year has taught me a lot---maybe that's for another post! Mostly, I am so thankful for the gospel of Jesus Christ, a very supportive husband and four beautiful children. And wonderful families on both sides that have helped us so much in the last few months.

Pictures or Thoughts?

I have been horrible at blogging lately, I apologize. My dilema? I am not great about taking pictures and a big part of blogging is pictures. We did take lots of pictures on Christmas. I will have to download those by Valentine's Day---adjusted expectations, isn't it great?!

The truth is that I have been incredibly overwhelmed--even typing that doesn't seem sufficient in describing how I feel. So, here's the rundown:
*I go through a daily (most days, hourly) swing of emotions between so thankful and at in awe of how blessed I have been to the other extreme of feeling terribly picked on and not understanding how I can possibly deal with what is at hand. I am cry just thinking of this constant swing---sound crazy? Well, I actually believe in a little craziness, I think it teaches us to be sane!
*Another daily swing of feelings is the lovely good ole fashioned mom guilt. I feel like you know what when I strap Luke into his high chair to watch Blue's Clues or Curious George in silence. I feel like I am neglecting him by going to the bathroom or loading the dishwasher. This is of course after I have put his implants/hearing aids/processors (still haven't figured out what they are called!!) on 100 times and he has ripped them off again and again and again. To say this tests my patience is the biggest understatement of my life! So, I swing from guilt to self pep talks telling myself that all I can do is my best and my best is good enough and that Luke knows that he is loved, etc., etc.,
* I have heartburn, I ache and I feel huge, yet in the quiet of my heart I am so excited to see this new baby boy! I am so thankful that the Lord has allowed me to be unrealistic and almost ignorant about how hard it is going to be after the baby is born so that I can still hold on to my motherly excitement---I really do feel excited---thanks in part to a fleeting memory of how I really feel after a baby!
* There are toys everywhere in our house right now---everywhere: every room, every solid surface, behind every door. At least we finally got all the packaging throw away, including all those annoying twist ties that hold down every one of the hundred parts down.
* I haven't cooked a real meal since Thanksgiving, and that was even with a lot of help. So, I am putting a roast in the crock pot tonight to make myself feel better.

So, I will stop with the list, since I could go on and on!!!! In summary, Luke is an absolute miracle. He had his implants activated on Dec. 17th, but since then it has been a real struggle keeping them in place on his ears. He has made small progress, such as: when he takes them off he just hands them to me nicely instead of throwing them across the room. He is a doll, that is why so much of this is so hard. It's a constant judgment call of how hard to push him to wear them, like a contest between his immediate comfort and his long term success.
For every struggle I think and pray for an accommodation to make it better. And, thankfully I have thought of a few. I do have hope that things will get easier and at some point he will be aware of the association between wearing them and hearing.

Until then, I will be thankful for the moments like today when he just hugged me, put his head on my shoulder and both arms around me and hugged and didn't let go and did it again and again, smiling. He is such a sweet soul!

Well, I am off to bed, I don't normally stay up until 10:30, see I'm not the normal supermom blogger that stays up all hours of the night with all her projects, nope I usually go to bed by 8:30---I know gasp: a post with no pictures and mostly complaining and admitting that I go to bed without everything or maybe even anything on my list done!

Surgery Day

This handsome little guy will be receiving his cochlear implants tomorrow. He will be in surgery for 5-6 hours. Please keep him and the surgeon in your prayers. We love you, Luke so very much!

“And whoso receiveth you, there I will be also, for I will go before your face.

I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts,

and mine angels round about you, to bear you up.”

Doctrine & Covenants 84:88

The Story of the Parentheses

This picture is of Jack, but this story is about Luke. I love this picture.
The first weekend of August 2008, Luke was given a beautiful blessing from Aaron at church. He was given his name of Luke Newel Chambers, which I love and he was blessed with many wonderful things. Towards the end of the blessing, Aaron said something along the lines of, "you will face physical hardships in your life". I remember making a funny face when I first heard this--a face like what's that supposed to mean, he's perfect, nothing will happen to him. Later on that night, as we were typing up the notes from the blessing I asked Aaron about it. He said that he didn't have any specific reason why he said that, but that it could just mean that he will have to work hard/physical labor, etc. I was somewhat sufficed, yet I still didn't like the thought of my sweet baby Luke dealing with any physical hardship.
With the final draft of the blessing, based on notes taken during the blessing and Aaron's good memory, Aaron typed the now infamous phrase in parentheses next to physical hardship---(not health) to make me feel better.
Life is full of irony and learning. Looking back I realize that it is an absolute ridiculous expectation to think, "I don't want anything to happen to my child"--Anything??? Things happen to us all--it's called living. We are all faced with trials and hardships, some more obvious than others. The deepest among them most likely the most unseen.
Instead the expectation for me has changed to I want my children to face their trials in life with strength, faith and courage based on their testimonies of the Savior and the plan Heavenly Father has for them and also based on their personal confidence in their abilities and the love that their family has for them.
They will each undoubtedly face trials--haven't we all? Yet, this experience has taught me so much about how I want to deal with things that come as a burden and/or hardship to my children--I want those things to make them stronger! I want them to cleave to their testimony, and have a solid level of confidence in who they are and what family they are a part of.
Luke has proven his strength to me already in so many ways, however I know that he will need to continue to be strong throughout his life. Will he have continued hardship? Probably, but nothing that he cannot face and get through with the help of the Lord and his family. Again, the same is true for each of our children and us too.
It's maddening to try to think of everything that may lie ahead, but I do have a sense of peace that there is more joy than sorrow to be had in this life. There is more sweet than bitter. And there is certainly much, much more strength to Luke than hardship.

A Good Crazy!!!

Don't you absolutely love those blog posts people do where they take a picture of their huge pile of laundry or how all their kids have messy faces by the end of the day, etc. I know those posts hardly exist, but this one is for all you reality lovers!
I am going CRAZY! 1. I will never home school--kudos for everyone that does, but I will not every do it, yet another lesson learned from this whole experience. 2. Bad sign when I looked at Aaron the other night and gasped when I realized I hadn't showered in three days--yikes! 3. Luke's nap time is the only time I am not sitting on the ground with him playing with toys, playing with toys, playing with toys while the others are running, running, running around me!
The list goes on, but remember this is the good kind of crazy--there is such thing. This is the kind of crazy that you constantly remind yourself that things won't stay like this forever and you will appreciate life's little blessings more because of this. One last thing on my list--if the pain in my right rib cage doesn't go away any day now I may just be signing my own contract saying I will never be pregnant again!
And just because:I never know what Adam will be wearing or not wearing I should say. Everyday is a new adventure!
An update on Luke: His strength continues to increase everyday--he is pulling himself up and standing while holding on to the couch, etc. He is climbing up on the couch--which keeps him on my constant radar. He is saying "ball" as he throws a ball. And continues with his normal babbling and waving, etc. He wore hearing aids for a week with no results--they were annoying to get in, but he didn't really touch them once they were in. We did a sound booth test with the audiologist while he was wearing the hearing aids and I may have sustained some ear damage from the noises they put through that thing (i'm joking), but he still did not have any response. This is depressing, but also adds to your assurance that the surgery is the right decision. We will have our final series of testing on Monday to know for sure of how/when to proceed. He is happy and doing really well--his laughs and hugs really do make it all worth it---see, I'm not really crazy!