Mommy's Home

I am finally home. It has been a long and frustrating day. Being that Garrett was born at 1:23am on Tuesday morning, technically, I was to stay in the hospital until Thursday. Had he been born right before midnight on Monday night, they would NOT have let me stay past Wednesday. So, I told every doctor and nurse that I wanted to leave on Wed. They told me they would do what they can to get me out. Unfortunately, not one thing got done that they said would. The hearing test wasn't done until Wed. night, but most importantly, the circumcision didn't get done until Thurs. late morning. I pushed and pushed for it to get done on Wed., but Aaron came to visit early morning, and My mom and dad came later in the morning. I was delayed in the pushing, and the doctor that was to do the "cut" was stuck in labor and delivery ALL night long. Then I was promised that the doctor does the rounds early (like 7 or 8am), and it would get done then. But, again, it all got delayed and nothing was done until Thurs. morning at 10:45. He then has to stay in the hospital for 4 more hours. I figured at that point, I am already stuck staying in the hospital, may as well take advantage of it, so I ordered the free lunch, and one for Aaron, and took my nice hot shower, and watched some tv, and most importantly, I bonded with Garrett. It was very frustrating, yet very pleasant.

Anyways, I am home now. Aaron brought Ashleigh to pick me up. Lorri took Ben and Matt to keep the chaos at the hospital to a minimum. It is almost 6pm on Thursday, and Aaron took the kids outside to set up the trampoline and give me some sanity as I can't leave the house for a while. Garrett is doing very well, he is healthy and happy, and VERY CALM. The kids are ecstatic to have him home finally. Ashleigh was asking me ALL kinds of questions on the way home. I almost forgot Garrett was in the car as he was silent the entire way.

For those who know I was having the pelvic bone separation, it did separate more at birth. Luckily, it isn't serious. It is a very common thing to happen, and I guess it didn't separate too much with me. I was asking to OB about it, and she asked if my leg was dragging, or if I had to swing my leg around to walk. I told her no, that it was just sore to lift my leg. She said it was totally fine, and that it should heal nicely, considering I take it "easy". I can't do stairs (maybe 1 time a day if needed. So I will continue to sleep downstairs for now), and no heavy lifting (as that is with ANY birth), so I am avoiding the kids at all costs. It is at least nice to have Aaron to help for a few days. Ben is the only one that I would pick up, and I am telling him mommy has owies, and can't lift him for now.

Slo-mo of clips from the delivery room set to Michael McClean's "You're Not Alone".


The Birth of Garrett Kenton Rockwell from John Rockwell on Vimeo.

Garrett Kenton Rockwell was born September 16 at 1:23 AM. He was 8 lbs. 12 ozs. and just under 21 inches long. Whitney and the baby are recovering at Saint Peter's University Hospital in room 3603.

The siblings meet Garrett for the first time. Matthew has some medical questions about the delivery. May not be suitable for children due to the use of medical terms...

The kids meet Garrett. from John Rockwell on Vimeo.

The family update

I feel like I tend to leave Matt out of the loop of things, so I just want to update on everyone in general and add a few pics. Ashleigh - she started school and as of now is LOVING it. She is a huge helper around the house. She actually just finished doing the dishes for me. Her favorite thing is to have a girls' night and pamper mommy. She puts lotion on my feet and legs (I have been teaching her some good massaging techniques), and she brushes and styles my hair. And, yes, I have left the house with 'her' style still in it so she knows I love the hairdo. I love having a princess around. Ashleigh, as she is growing up a bit, has been showing an amazing spirit. The other night she and I were in the car alone, she asked me to put on a Jesus movie because it had been a while since we had seen one. I put on 'Finding Faith in Christ'. We got to talking about Jesus, and she was asking how we know Jesus is there. I talked to her about Graham and how we can't see Graham in heaven, but we know he is with Jesus and Heavenly Father. I also asked her if we can see or hear Jesus and Heavenly Father. She said, "No, but I can talk to them when I am scared." We decided that we talk to them through prayer. I asked if she can hear Heavenly Father next to her when she prays for that comfort. She said, "No, I just know he is there to comfort me." I am amazed at how much she has grown.

Matthew - he is a sweet boy who knows when loves are needed. He cuddles me all the time, and needs a lot of love himself. He is very sensitive. It amazes me how I have 2 boys who are VERY MESSY, and love getting messy, yet the second they drop a piece of food, they start crying and whining to pick it up. Matthew ADORES his big sister. He wants to do EVERYTHING Ash does. Including go to school. This morning he asked me if he could come out to the bus and ask the bus driver if he can get on the bus. He walked out with me, and just started walking onto the bus. The driver giggled, but I ended up having to pick him up and carry him back to the house. He was very sad. He loves Lightning McQueen from Cars, and Buzz Lightyear, Spiderman, Batman. Sometimes he will be all of them at the same time. There are also times where Matt (in wanting to do EVERYTHING Ash does) dresses up in Ashleigh's princess dresses or her leotard. I guess I should take a picture of it. He LOVES the water. We went to Ricky's lake for Labor Day, and all he wanted to do was be in the water. I told him he had to wait to go in until Aaron arrived, but he was so anxious, Pops finally caved and took him in. They had a blast. Matt does tend to get bullied by his brother and sister. He is the sensitive one, so the second they start teasing he is the one to run and scream instead of fight back. So, they keep doing it because of the reaction they get. I feel sorry for him.

Ben - The bilingual bully. He loves to run after Matt and bite him. Every time they bite each other, I make them bite themselves quite hard. It doesn't seem to get the point accross. The other problem is that Ben knows biting is him power against Matt and he uses every second of it. We were at the park, and Ben was taking a toy Matt was using. Matt leaned over and bit Ben on the arm, then ran. I told Matt to come sit in time-out, but Ben was standing at the bottom of the stairs holding onto the railings with a huge evil grin. Matt knew if he headed back down the stairs, Ben would bite him back. So, he went all the way around the playground to get to me, and keep away from Ben. Ben was satisfied because he scared Matt away, and got the toy. Oh, boys. They are definitely more destructive, more physical, and more. . .well. . .boyish. Ben also worships his big sister. She will play with him, and he will be laughing, then Matt will come along and do the same exact thing. He will just look at Matt and shoo him away. I guess Matt does get left out a lot. The kids have been going to a spanish speaking babysitter for a year while I was working. Ashleigh and Matt learned words here and there, but Ben speaks it. I know he has conversations with me in Spanish (probably a mix of the 2), and I have NO idea what he is saying. We say agua instead of water, and leche instead of milk. Ben will give you a beso instead of a kiss or an embrasso instead of a hug. He does know the english word because we say it both ways to him, but I think it's great that he knows spanish, and I want him to remember the little that he does know.

Aaron - He is loving his job at Schering-Plough. He works in the lab. He tests new drugs to be put out on the market basically. He really enjoys the people he works with, and it is a GREAT company to work for. I can't remember him coming home once in the past 2 years working there where he has been depressed, or not happy with his day at work. It makes for a happier home. He currently is teaching the 15 and 16 year olds at church. I think 17 is included in that, but not positive. I think he really enjoys them because they do interact, and they know a bit about the church. They do joke here and there, but I think Aaron likes that too.

Whitney - Due with our 4th child in 3 weeks. I am very scared as it is another boy. I am very excited to have another baby, though. We really felt like this is what the Lord wanted, and so I am trying to embrace it. We have decided to name him Garrett Kenton Rockwell. Garrett is a take on Gary (my dad), and Kenton is Aaron's dad's name. I am anxious for him to come mostly because I can't walk at this point and it is hard to care for 3 kids when you can't get off the couch. I make do, but it is hard. I know that having a new baby isn't going to be much easier, but at least I will be a bit more mobile (after a few weeks of recovery). I have been working at Porcelanosa Tile for the past year. I started maternity leave a bit early because I have pelvic symphysis separation (my pelvic bone started separating). It isn't anything dangerous, or something to worry about. . .it is just painful. Makes running after 3 kids so much MORE FUN!!! I have loved working, but also love being home with the kids, as hectic as it gets. The kids are loving having me home. It has been nice.

Ash's first day of school

Okay, so it has been a while since I have updated. About 5 days after I did the last entry, I found out I was pregnant. Things got a bit crazy after that. Considering EVERYONE is blogging now, I figured I should update this, and keep up as best as I can. I figure if my sister-in-law with 6 kids can do it, I surely can. Thanks for the push, Mandy. : )

We have officially started school. Ashleigh is now a Kindergartener. YAY!!! She is going half day. Part of me is loving it, and part of me wants her to go full day. She is an enormous help around the house, so I love having her home, but to me that is selfish. She is so ready for school. She has been looking forward to this day for the past 3 years. I would love her to go full day for her. Also, as much as she is a helper, she is still a sister, and therefore she does tend to tease her brothers at times. But, I am not complaining. I LOVE HAVING HER HOME!!!

Pops and Zachary came down to our house on Tuesday night Sept. 2, to give father's blessings to Ash and Zach. As soon as they arrived Ash ran to pops and said very enthusiastically, "This is my last time to visit you." I thought it very cute that because she is starting school, she can no longer visit with anyone.

We had a lot of fun getting ready for school. Grandma had bought Ash a brand new outfit for school, but it was too big. I brought it to the store to exchange it, but they didn't have any other size, so we had a girls' day out on Saturday. I took Ash to JC Penney and she picked out the adorable outfit in the pictures (amazingly she chose jeans. But they have hearts made out of rhinestones on the pockets, so I think that helped.) Then we headed over to the nail salon, and both got pedicures. She got a manicure to match. I don't have pics of her nails, but they are a turquoise blue with a white design and sparkles over it all. Very cute.

On Wed., grandma brought over doughnuts for the kids. We all had breakfast together, and then Ash quickly put on her brand new outfit. I straightened her hair and she was ready to go at about 8am. The bus comes at 8:42, but she was VERY anxious to wait outside for her bus. I did what I could to keep them busy inside the house for a while. At about 8:30, we finally went out on the front steps. Matt and Ben sat very nicely while I waited with Ash. Luckily the bus comes right to the front of our house, so no one has to be packed into a car, or running around a busy street. She got on the bus and we headed to run errands.

Waiting for her to come home was a little different. The bus was supposed to arrive at 11:52. We went outside at about 11:45, and ended up waiting until 12:30 for her to actually get here. I know new bus routes, new routines, I just hope it's not that long every day. It was difficult keeping Matt and Ben busy for that long without them getting too close to the street. They, had fun being outside, though. They waved to all the trucks driving by. Ben caught an ant. That was fun. He was very proud of himself, "I got it. I got it."

So, the bus finally arrived, and Ash starts coming down the stairs. I said, "How was school." She replied in a huff, "It was SO HARD." I asked her what was so hard about it. She said, "It was so boring. We did HOMEWORK ALL DAY LONG." I started laughing. Then, she turned to Matt (who through all of this is VERY disappointed that he doesn't get to ride the bus or go to school yet.) and said, "Matt my school is so boring, you wouldn't want to go there anyway." After about 15 minutes of prying, I got her to tell me they had singing time. We sang the "bear hunt" song 500 times. Anyone want to hear it? She also told me that she snuck onto the playground for 2 minutes. But did not get to play with anything in the room at all.

Although Ash's first day was BORING. . .she was still VERY excited to go back today. We were out on the front porch 10 minutes early again. I will update you over the next couple of days to let you know if it gets any better. : )

Today was her second day at school. She got off the bus (time was a little better, 12:10), and I asked her how school was. She said, "Much better." She told me she was able to have free play which helps. She did NOT go on the playground today. It makes me happy that she still considers it a fun day even though she didn't get to go outside. She did a 'girl' puzzle, and although she doesn't remember a single name of any other kids, she wasn't shy and talked to the other kids and made friends. I am very proud of her. She says she is still shy with her teacher, but that will be broken in time. There is a girl she sits next to on the bus that she talks to, but again, doesn't remember a name.