We started the month watching General Conference. It went as well as could be expected-- I heard a few words here and there between the kids' demands.
To celebrate Hyrum's birthday we invited over the people that work with Hyrum. They all showed up, and unfortunately I didn't think to take a picture of his whole shop (that's what the Army calls it... it's like a department or team) together. I also didn't think to take a picture of the food, which -- I'll go ahead and say -- was awesome. The apple cake and cilantro/cranberry/cream cheese dip were highlights.
While Hyrum was at work I had the kids make cards for him. Tiago was so excited to give his card to Hyrum that he asked to do it right after the party was over (the day before his actual birthday.) So we gave him all the cards. The next morning he (meaning the kids) opened his presents. His favorite present (I assume) was the Bayern soccer ball he got from my mom. My present didn't compare, but I was okay with that since I suggested the soccer ball that he loved. :)
We walk Tiago to the bus stop every morning (well, T-F) rain or shine. Occasionally the kids are really sweet to each other, and share things.
Colombia qualified for the 2018 World Cup. It was a few nights of intense games-- then Hyrum making phone calls to various friends from different countries to discuss what might happen. Ultimately, Colombia qualified. As did most others who were expected to (minus Chile.)
I wrote previously about my trip to Boston. It was quick, but fun-filled. Hyrum watched the kids over the weekend, and wasn't nearly as exhausted as I'd hoped he would be. He had a great time with the kids, and even took them hiking.
Miscarriage Saga
The day after I got back from my trip (Wednesday) I had a doctors appointment, because I was almost 11-weeks pregnant. At my 6-week appointment I had an ultrasound and everything looked normal, but when I went back in they said there was no heartbeat, and I probably lost the baby shortly after my last appointment (based on growth). That was obviously hard to hear. The first trimester--as always--had been so miserable (lack of motivation or desire, nausea, exhaustion, exhaustion, exhaustion, etc.) So I was so hopeful to be almost done. But I wasn't completely blindsided when the doctor gave me the news: I had noticed the morning sickness easing up part-way through the first trimester, and wondered why. But I had no signs of a miscarriage so I was hopeful. Regardless, I cried the whole way to pick up my kids from child care after the appointment.
The doctor gave me medicine to start the miscarriage (misoprostel), but I wanted to wait until the weekend so Hyrum would be home to help with the kids. It's hard to emotionally move past trauma (although logically I knew everything would eventually work out) when you still feel pregnancy symptoms (like waking up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom) and haven't actually miscarried. We had a few things to knock out over the weekend before the 'fun' could start.
Hyrum had a work Halloween party on Friday. We were one of the few families all dressed up. People have no sense of fun! And most people didn't know who I was. (Mrs. Banks.) The kids got a ton of candy, we got to ride a horse-drawn wagon, and then the kids were freezing to death so we left.
Since Hyrum would be missing Halloween (gone at a training), the only time we could really celebrate as a family was on Saturday. I put together a cute lunch with kid-food I found on the internet. My kids didn't eat more than 2 bites of a mummy hot dog and just looked at the rest. Maybe when they're older??
And the real delay was family pictures that were scheduled for Saturday afternoon. There was no day to reschedule so I just crossed my fingers that my body would cooperate. I spent way too much money at Gap on the girls' outfits, but they ended up so adorable. I'll post more pictures another day. It was a bit windy, but we got some really pretty shots.
So then I could finally take the medication. It didn't kick in until the middle of the night. It was painful and I was up half the night. (It felt like early labor pains, with nothing exciting to anticipate once it was all over.) I was able to rest on Sunday and started feeling better. On Monday I woke up a new woman. I felt like all the lethargy of pregnancy was gone. (!!) I could eat, exercise, and do normal household work that I'd ignored for 2.5 months while I'd been lying on the sofa. Then unfortunately, all the pain (and some of the blood) came back in full force on Wednesday while Hyrum was getting ready to leave for a month-long training in Louisiana. So I basically had to suck it up and continue with life as usual, wondering what in the world my body was doing. It eventually stopped.
I went to the doctor a few days later for a 'normal appointment' where they were supposed to take an ultrasound and tell me everything looked normal. The doctor had changed the appointment last minute, so I had all three kids with me. I went 2 hours early to do blood work. So when the appointment finally came around we were ready to go home. And it turned into one of the most traumatic appointments of my life. The doctor started with an ultrasound, then removed a blood clot, and suddenly I was bleeding all over the room. She told me I may need to go to the operating room and have someone come pick up my kids (that stressed me out, since Hyrum was already gone.) Luckily the doctor was able to slow the bleeding enough with some (TMI) painful internal/external uterus massaging. But at that point I was like, "Do whatever it takes!" I felt bad for the doctor and nurse that were in there, and I felt bad for myself. haha. Meanwhile, my kids were sitting 2 feet away thankfully sitting still and playing on the tablet. I felt bad for them, too. They had quite a few questions once we finally left the hospital.
In the end, I was able to leave, again, crying the whole way home knowing I'd have to repeat the miscarriage process all over again. (I got more meds from the doctor.) I was frustrated that my body wasn't doing what it was 'supposed to.' And if I wasn't going to pregnant, I wished I would just not be, instead of this long drawn out process. To quickly summarize, the medicine didn't do anything that time around. I was afraid I'd have to have a D&C to finish things. But at my next appointment everything looked okay.
So life was finally back to normal. I finally could exercise again without concern (which goes a long way for me in the 'mental stability' department.) But by this point in the month the stress had just about done me in, and I was sad about gaining weight from over eating. (It took so long to lose in the first place!) I had high hopes that November 1 would bring with it a 're-set' button.
Back to normal October stuff...
We went to At Home to check out their Christmas decorations. And the library. (Which has so many toys!)
These pictures are actually from the hospital when we were there for a few hours before the traumatic appointment. We entertained ourselves by coloring, eating, and buying hot chocolate from Starbucks. The kids were cute and insisted we "share" and pass the cup to each other in a circle around the table.
Later that afternoon we went to the neighborhood Halloween activity where they got to climb into a fire truck and get free pumpkins.
Tiago loves drawing on this toy, and it's helped him improve his pen grip. Sometimes at night he didn't want to go to sleep, so I let him stay up drawing. I found this on the floor the next morning.
Whenever I bake with Tiago he tells me he needs to test the food to make sure it turned out right. (He's being completely serious about it, too, as he eats all the cake/muffin/brownie batter.)
I totally forgot about school picture day. Fortunately he didn't go to school with Nutella on his face. We bought real ones but it's quicker to post this instead.
And fiiiiinally, Grandma came to save us from our boredom. She flew out to be here for Halloween and we had a much better few days with her around. We took her to Manitou Springs, because she'd never been and the girls really wanted to go on the arcade rides. It was randomly a high of 30 degrees that day so we all nearly froze to death. (A few days later we were at the playground in short-sleeves.)
Unfortunately this is blurry, but we went to brunch. (Again, the 'regular' stops when we have house guests.) Delicous waffles at Urban Steam! Then we had a few hours with no plans, so we ended up at the Olympic Training Center and took a tour. It's always inspiring to watch some of the footage of people winning awards and doing things with their bodies that shouldn't be possible.
On Halloween I picked up donuts and pizza (Dunkin Donuts and Pizza Hut are conveniently next door to each other.) These two pictures make me laugh because first Mila sticks out her tongue and then Siena did the same thing. Then we put on costumes, took pictures, and went to pick up my dad from the gate. (He'd just flown in and drove down for the night.) He handed out candy while we took the kids around. They only lasted 30 minutes before they were cold and tired so we took them home to eat a bunch of candy. There was the craziest giant-baby costume walking around.
The girls also tried on these Christmas dresses my mom had made them. They'll look so cute in December! (The candy canes and Christmas ornaments disqualify them from being worn the other 11 months of the year.)
Another fun thing I did in October was have a bunch of people over for Sunday dinner/potluck. Several ladies in our branch had their spouses gone at the same time as Hyrum, so we got together with our kids to help pass the time. Hyrum didn't have use of his cell phone for most of his training, so having an adult around to talk to makes a huge difference. Plus, having other women around who understand how frustrating and life-sucking the Army can be makes a huge difference.
Tiago participated in the Primary Program the Sunday before Hyrum left. He said his short part (with a little help.) But besides that he didn't open his mouth at all the entire time. During the songs, he just looked around blank-faced. The girls, on the other hand, were so excited and sang along to all the songs they knew.
We started meeting in a new church building... which means we get to meet at 10 am instead of 1 pm. We also had a branch Halloween activity, which was a whirlwind of craziness and I didn't take a single picture (even though the kids looked adorable and everyone loved their costumes.)
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