Ode to Nate

Daddy and Nate in the NICU (Feb/03)
2004

Spring, 2005. Dallas YMCA gymnastics

December 2005, Utah

Malibu, May 2005

Halloween 2005, Kansas City

November 2006

December 2006

September 2007

Okay, so that last post was a little sad. I was getting Nate a snack when I realized that I need to do a post about how great a kid he is. I think I need to remind myself of all the great things he does and all that makes him so great. So, at the risk of being a little self-indulgent (isn't that what blogs are for, anyways?) here goes:

*From the beginning, Nate has always been a happy, social kid. Everywhere we go, he makes friends. Even at the grocery store. His line is always: "Hi. I'm Nate. I'm four. How old are you?" and he says this to kids and adults alike (which can be a little awkward, especially with the adults.). I believe that he has been blessed with this gift so that our many moves have been less difficult for him. He loves being around people.

*Nate is a bright kid. We were really nervous when he wasn't really talking much by age 2 or so. But once he started, he's never stopped! He's so curious about the world. He has many questions, some which surprise me by how thoughtful or insightful they are. He knew all his letters at a really young age and would "read" to me when we were driving. "That sign says S-T-O-P. That means stop. S-T-O-P means stop, Mom."

*Now, he can write all his letters and all his numbers. Imagine my surprise when one day at church he wrote all the letters on a piece of paper and handed it to me. We'd never even worked on it, not once. I still don't know how he did that.

*He can count to 100, not missing a single number. He is obsessed with numbers and asks us, "What number is this?" all the time. For instance, he'll say, "What number is 2,0,0,0?" to which we'll reply "That's two thousand." He'll then say, "Oh. Two thousand has three zeros after a two." He does this all day. When we're driving past houses, he reads the house numbers. Gets on my nerves sometimes, but I'm so glad that he's noticing the world around him.

*He loves the movie Cars, Toy Story, the Backyardigans, and Little Einsteins. He loves to play with Legos, cars, and ride his bike.

*He is a loving little boy. I love his hugs and kisses, and he's very sweet with his little brother. Aidan probably gets more than his fair share of love ;)

When Nate was born, he spent five days in the NICU. That was scary for us. I was so grateful to have him then, and I'm grateful to have him now. I hope to never take this precious child of God for granted. He is what his name means: "Blessing from God."

Heaven Help Me

Okay, so I know this is normal...and I know I'm not the only mom that has ever experienced this, but my first born is driving me crazy! He was doing pretty well for the first couple of weeks after Aidan was born (and I thought--look at me! I've prepared him so well, what a great mom I am!) Then, he got sick and it's been downhill from there. He hasn't shown any aggression toward the baby (quite the opposite in fact...he's been overly loving) but Adam and I are feeling all the effects of a boy who is feeling out-of-place. His new phrases are: "But I WANT TO!" (which he feels is a reason to get to do, eat, or say whatever he wants) and "NOW!" (which he adds to the end of any request or demand--lately it's been more demands than requests).
So, I'm at the end of my rope. (What is that saying? Tie a knot and hang on?) Can any of you relate to my insanity? Because the catch is this: If Adam or I are too harsh with him when he acts out, it actually gets more intense, the whining gets to a much higher level, and then I just want to run away. But the fear is that if we allow the behavior in any way (the whole "ignore it and if he sees it doesn't get any attention, it will stop" theory), that he will start to think that we are okay with him acting totally awfully. I used to think that I was a pretty good mom. In real life, Nate is generally a really, really good kid. But lately I've been thrown into "survival mode" and I HATE that!
Okay, enough of that. I'm sure a lot of you are saying "Been there, done that" and I'm sure things will even out soon. I suppose I wouldn't be so cranky over it IF I was getting more than two hours' sleep at a time and IF I wasn't sick and IF the baby wasn't sick, too. This too shall pass.

Heavenly Father to me: "How badly did you want another baby?"

Halloween!

Aidan in his Halloween outfit...."I Vant Your Candy"

(thanks for the outfit, Nana!)

Hello, Brother!

Aidan was a dalmation for Halloween! It kept him warm!

Too Much Trick-or-Treating!

Nate doing the traditional "dump-and-sort"

Some funny things said by Nate on Halloween:

"Oh, Mom, I LIKE Halloween!"

"I don't want to go to that house. It's spooky." (good thing, too, because there was someone hiding in the bushes trying to scare the kids)

(near the end of the night): "I am done. I have enough candy now."

Ward Party

Nate and his buddies Alden, Liam & Jackson
The mayhem after the pinata was broken...
Nate is in the middle of the pile-up

The loot!

On Tuesday our ward had a great Halloween party. Thanks to Amanda for heading it up (with help from her wonderful committee, of course) We had such a good time. Adam and I didn't dress up this year. It's hard to get into the Halloween spirit when your spouse says "Bah Humbug" ...or whatever the Halloween equivalent is. We lost all our Halloween costumes in Hurricane Katrina, and since then I haven't had the energy to make or buy new ones. But anyways, Nate was dressed up of course, so he represented the family. Next year we will have to get into it, because no one bought our explanations of our "costumes" : "Super Dad" and "a desperate housewife."

The party was a blast, though. I mostly loved seeing all our ward friends dressed up (some were extremely creative!) They had a haunted house, a pinata, games, a costume contest, and dinner. It was quite an event!

Halloween at Preschool!!

This is Nate's class at their Halloween party. I loved that most of the girls were princesses or fairies and each of the boys was a superhero or hero of some sort. They are a fun group of kids. And check out Nate, I mean, Superman. He'd wear that costume every day if he had the choice. But he doesn't have the choice. Because I am a mean mom and make him wear clothes. I thought it was funny that he'd pretend to fly and kept yelling "Su-per-man!" at every one that asked him who he was. Funnier still that he's never seen a Superman movie, cartoon, or even an episode of Smallville. Where do they pick these things up???

Fun Playdate

Nate had a fun playdate with some new friends this week...thanks for playing with us Austin and Ella (and Alivia too!) And thanks, Alysha, for meeting us in such a fancy restaurant. ;) We just wish you didn't live in Edmonton...good thing you still visit Calgary often. Looking forward to your next visit!

I Hate Croup

Well, our old friend CROUP has visited Nate again...in a nasty way. It started Tuesday, and every night since has been no fun (between nursing Aidan every two hours and Nate waking up three times a night, I'm getting no sleep at all!) Luckily we think he's on the back end of it. This is the third time Nate has had croup, and everyone says he's too old to have it again, but here we are. So, the challenge hasn't necessarily been the terrible cough, or the trouble breathing, or even the middle-of-the-night trips into the cold air (which help a lot, actually). The challenge has been keeping Nate and baby Aidan apart. Nate is terribly upset that he can't hold, hug, and kiss his little brother. And he's equally upset that Mom is spending so much time holding the baby, and she can't comfort him all day long. It's brought us both to tears on several occasions. I realize now how much I've taken for granted--good health, spontaneous hugs, and good sleep. Hopefully next week will be better, and join us in praying that Aidan doesn't get sick, too. I'm not sure I could handle that!
OK, so I know that many of you didn't really care to read such a boring blog entry, and maybe you're just here to look at pictures, so here you go :)

Wanna see more? Check out my family's blog:

http://busathfamily.blogspot.com

Four Years Will Make You Forget...

It's been a long time since we've had a newborn in our home. I've forgotten...

*Baby poop is gross and it gets everywhere. Aidan goes through so many outfits, I'm doing laundry every other day!

*A mom with a new baby can fall asleep anytime, anywhere. Even sitting up.

*The world is eerily quiet at 2 a.m. and is equally quiet at 4 a.m. when we get up again.

*There is no sweeter feeling than a little infant curled up against your chest.

*I'm more likely to have a meeting with the president of the United States than get a shower by noon.

*Binkis (soothers for you Canucks), TV/movies, and McDonalds are not evil. They are tools necessary for survival.

*I will never find out what I did right, that made me lucky enough to be a mother. What a tremendous blessing, and what a tremendous responsibility! I'm humbled when I look at the little faces of my boys, and think of what they might become. Limitless potential. Wow.

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Aidan is two weeks old today and has figured out what lungs are for!! Last night was a little rough, but by one a.m. he was calmed down and asleep. I'd barely fallen asleep when, at exactly 1:08 a.m., Nate woke up with a wet bed. So I took jammies off, put on new jammies, switched out bedding, calmed him down, went back to bed and fell asleep. Luckily Aidan let me sleep for a little while. Poor Adam, he actually had to get up today and go to work...I got to sleep in until Nate woke up!

Introducing....

Aidan Michael Murdock

Born October 3, 2007 at 11:05 a.m.

8 pounds, 1 ounce

21 inches

Proud Daddy

Our First Family Portrait...Aidan is about two hours old

I look tired, don't you think?

Me and My Boys...I am one lucky momma

These brothers are going to be good buddies!

Aidan joined our family last week and we have been basking in the joy of a newborn in our home. What a sweet spirit they bring...so fresh from heaven. He was born by c-section last Wednesday and gave us a little scare in the beginning. He came out screaming but didn't turn from blue to pink very quickly. The atmosphere in the operating room was tense, and I could hear a lot of commotion as they brought in a pediatrician consult and called for a special team to come and take him to the "special care nursery." But I couldn't really see anything since I was lying on the OR table being stitched up... Needless to say, it was a scary situation but he ended up "pinking up" before they had to take him to the nursery and he has been given a clean bill of health, thank heaven. We didn't name him right away, since Adam and I couldn't agree on a name. The second night I woke up from a dream with the name of Aidan on my mind, and although Adam liked it well enough, he still wanted to name him Matthew. So, we decided to let Nate be the tie breaker, and he chose Aidan. We chose the middle name of Michael in honor of my father, and we were reminded later that it's kind of like giving him the middle name of Adam since the first man on earth (Adam) was the spirit Michael. Anyways, Aidan means "little fiery one." I hope we're not asking for trouble!

Since we've been home, Aidan has been a dream come true. He hardly ever makes a sound, he's such a calm baby. He looks just like Nate did when he was born (except he's two and a half pounds heavier!)

Nate is adjusting (I think) and he says, "I like my baby brother." He's been very helpful and sweet with the new baby, and I am so grateful that so far he's doing well. I am healing very quickly and haven't taken any pain medication since we got home on Friday. That is a tremendous blessing...I feel great!

We were so blessed to have my mom here for the birth and the days following. It was really sad to see her go (she left yesterday) but we've been managing okay without her. We have such amazing family members and we're so thankful to our friends and family who have been so helpful and provided so much service over the past week.

Life is beautiful, and we are so blessed!!!

September So Far

Oh, how I love this little boy!

Just a few random things that have happened in the first half of September.....

1. We found a new park that I absolutely love...Robert Burns Memorial Gardens. It's a series of gardens, pine trees and waterfalls. I think it is a beautiful place to walk, enjoy the beauty and of course, take pictures! Here is Nate with his buddy Jackson at the park:

2. Our ward had its annual "Corn Bust" which is a delicious excuse to get together and enjoy the corn that is locally grown. I thought it was a great turn-out, and one of the men in the ward brought his water balloon launcher. I don't think the kids could have been more thrilled, especially when he let them take a turn launching a water balloon. Here is Nate on one of his turns:

and watching the other kids' turns with Alden and Jackson:

3. I am 36 weeks pregnant today and certainly feeling every week of it. I'll post an updated belly shot soon, but until then you'll just have to trust me that I'm a big pregnant lady. This pregnancy has been sooooo different from my pregnancy with Nate. I still have my ankles, I am carrying way high and straight out (with Nate it was way high and wide...maybe some of you remember how wide....I hope not though!) I am loving the idea of having another sweet child join our family. Nate is really excited about having a little brother, and asks me every day if the baby is "ready to come out yet." Not yet, but.....

4. I've been scheduled for a repeat c-section on October 3 (that's less than three weeks away!ahhh!). It was totally my decision whether or not to have another c-section and I was in agony over the decision. I prayed and prayed and pondered and cried over what to do, and finally decided to schedule it so that I could have my own doctor, and not just whomever is on call, perform the surgery. But if baby boy decides to come before that, I'll just try to have a regular VBAC. That is the plan, anyways. I'm very nervous about the idea of surgery and recovery (especially with an active four-year-old at home) but my fears were lessened when I found out that....

5. My mom is coming to Calgary!!! She is coming for the birth of our little man, who will be her third grandson. She is going to come for 12 glorious days. I feel so grateful to her for coming, for my dad for letting her come, and for my younger siblings who are not putting up too much of a fight over her leaving them for that long! I feel much better about the whole thing now that I know my mommy will be here to help. Nate is counting down the days, too :)

6. Okay, last but not least, I had so much fun at our ward's Enrichment last night. A friend of mine, Rhonda (who happens to be Alden's mom), and I tag-teamed teaching a basic digital photography class last night. It was really fun to get prepared for the night, and Rhonda put together a really great powerpoint presentation with our photography work in it. I just love photography and I loved sharing it with the ladies of our ward. Plus, we had a great turnout and even had DELICIOUS brownie sundaes for dessert (Thank you, Allyson!) Anyways, check out Rhonda's blog: http://rsteedphotography.blogspot.com/

She's really good!

Hopefully the rest of September will be great, too! And as a reward for reading all that, here is a bonus picture of Nate!

Oh, the joys of BOYS!

So, it was time for dinner and Nate was outside playing. I called to him, and heard this little voice: "I'm over here!" I looked around but couldn't find him. "Over here" turned out to be next to the house, behind the bushes, digging in the dirt. He was filthy from head to toe, and as he undressed for his bath that night, I realized dirt was in all the nooks and crannies of his clothes and his body...in his hair, his ears, between his toes...So anyways, here he is, showing me how dirty his hands got. I just love this little boy, he's never boring!

First Day of Preschool

Nate and Jackson on their first day of school!
So many fun things to do in preschool!


Nate had his first day of preschool last week, and I've just been so busy that I couldn't get this blog entry done until now. Oh, well. So, he has absolutely loved it and it certainly makes it more fun that his two best buds are in his class, Jackson and Alden. Their teacher is really sweet and there is so much for them to do. He spent the first day going from center to center, playing and painting and doing play-doh and art projects. I've been given the job of "room mom" (ah, the things we do for our little ones) and so I was able to spend his first two days in the classroom with him. (We'll see what happens when I don't stay with him next week.) This preschool has a parent volunteer each class, and so I figured I'd sign up twice this month so that I don't have to do it again for awhile. Plus, the bonus was that I got to be with him for his first day. That was oh-so-special for me!

Where Have We Been?

Well, the answer to the question is: everywhere and nowhere. We've been busy, but we've managed to squeeze in some fun, too. Last weekend we had a lot of fun. Saturday we went to a ward activity at Chestermere Lake, about 25 minutes away. Nate had been looking forward to "boat day" all week and finally, Saturday was here! The weather wasn't that great (it was a bit windy and cold) but some brave souls did get in the water to wakeboard, and we got to take a ride on the boat, so we were happy!
Saturday night we went with Adam's family (all the extended Melchin family) to Globalfest's finale. Globalfest is a week-long fireworks competition and we had tickets for the closing ceremonies, so to speak. A big thanks to Adam's uncle Greg for inviting us! Nate loved, loved, loved the fireworks and even a little bit of rain didn't dampen our spirits! We were a little nervous about how Nate would like the fireworks, since he hasn't seen any since he was two (and was scared to death at Disneyland...that was the last fireworks show we've seen....) but man did he love it! I must admit, so did I. I'm a sucker for fireworks.
I've also been busy with some photo shoots, a couple of which I've posted on my other blog. I'm hoping to be able to do some more before the baby comes, and then get back into it as soon as possible afterwards. I find so much joy taking pictures, whether of people or scenery or my favorite subject in the world: Nate!
Anyways, we're just trying to get ready for baby. I'm organizing, cleaning, storing, etc. all in anticipation of the little man's arrival! Only about five more weeks!

"Sittin' on the dock of the bay...watching the tide roll away..."

These boys LOVED the trampoline at the cabin!

Some great friends from our ward...isn't their daughter beautiful?!

Rick, el capitano

Sweetheart 'L'

Outrageous!

I am not sure that I've ever used this blog for anything but showcasing my love for my family and keeping in touch with loved ones, but I just had to write about this.

I was just watching the local news at noon and heard the most ridiculous thing ever. This is so indicative of "progressive" Canadian politics and laws and it makes me sick. In Quebec, when a couple gets married, the woman is not legally allowed to take her husband's last name. Even if she wants to. Now, I am not against women who choose to keep their last name when they get married. I think that is a personal choice. But I do believe that a woman should have the choice!! The news story said that if a woman wants to legally take on her husband's last name, she has to apply to legally change her name, which is generally not granted for the reason of "marriage."

Beyond having your government tell you that you cannot change your last name, which upsets me at every level, I have to think about the effects of this: what will doing geneaology be like when a woman doesn't have the same last name as her children? How does it affect record-keeping in the Church (and otherwise)? Anyways, I just had to assert my opinion. This isn't a new law, it's about 25 years old, and it was considered a major "win" for the feminist movement. Now there is a call for government to change the law and let women choose. What do you think about this? Am I just a little too uptight? Does this really matter? Would it matter to you?

Murdock July

July was a busy month for us! Not only was it the hottest July in Calgary since 1960, which made sleeping with no A/C a little difficult, but we were kept on the run with all sorts of adventures, visitors, and fun, fun, fun! First of all, let me defend my inablilty to sleep and my crankiness about the 87-degree heat. Everyone here teased me mercilessly because I'm supposed to be this tough Texan who is used to heat. Well, in Texas, 87 degrees in the summer would be considered a cool day, that is right. But Texans do not usually go outside if it's much hotter than that (unless it's to the pool or something) AND we are smart enough to make sure that the air conditioning is working wherever we live. Otherwise, we die. And, I've never been seven-plus months pregnant in the summer either. I will from now on, plan winter babies :) So, all you Canadians, lay off. It's hot, I could barely sleep for most of July, and I am not a wimp just because I installed a window-mounted A/C unit in my living room. So there :)

Okay, on to the fun things.......

1. Adam's brother Paul and his wife Rachael and their 20-month-old daughter Sydney visited Calgary this month. We went with them to the Calgary Stampede. Super fun. Nate cried for a couple days after Sydney left. They were really good buddies. He kept saying "I want my cousin back."

Really great photo of Adam and Nate on the roller coaster. You'd never guess that I actually know how to use my camera :)

Nate and Sydney riding the train to the Stampede

2. Adam's uncle Wade brought his family to visit from Arizona and we got to go on a day trip to the mountains with the Melchin clan. These pictures are from Morraine Lake and some falls that I think are called Takawaka or something.

3. Nate got his first bike. I think it's way too big, but his ever-so-frugal dad says he'll grow into it. We decorated it with Spiderman and Superman stickers so that it would be "cool."

4. Adam's brother Jared also visited Calgary, although we hardly got to see him because...

5. Adam's grandmother (his father's mother) passed away at the spry age of 95. The family was able to go down for the funeral (even Paul and Jared could go because they were in town). So they drove down to Idaho and were gone for a few days. The services were beautiful, I'm told, and we will all remember the sweet and fun woman she was. She was finally able to go "home" and be with her husband and son, Dennis, who preceded her in death.

6. Adam's aunt Robyn and uncle Nyle were here to visit. (Robyn's actually still here) We loved having dinner with them and we even celebrated "Heritage Day" with a Melchin family picnic in the park. I was having too much fun to take any pictures, so sorry....

7. Adam and I celebrated our sixth anniversary on July 25. It's nearly impossible for me to wrap my head around the fact that it's been six years since we were married in the LDS Salt Lake Temple. What a blessing it is to be married to your best friend and what a blessing that we have each other forever. Also, I couldn't help but get emotional over the fact that we're blessed to have our own children, with a sweet and loving four-year-old and another little boy on the way. We are richly blessed.

I couldn't resist adding this side shot, this baby is growing every day! (This pic is from 30 weeks....only a few more to go!)

8. Other than all that, we've just been soaking up the sun and enjoying life. Here are some bonus pictures :)

Having a great time with friends Alden and Jackson at Riley Park, a wading pool park that is FREE! (By the way, this was the 4th of July. I made sure Nate was wearing his red, white and blue swim shorts. Even if no one else noticed, at least we remembered the holiday...and thought about how much I miss my country and how blessed we are to be American.)

Nate and his neighbor buddies...we've been spending a lot of time outdoors playing with these guys. Some days Nate is literally outside from 8 am to 7 or 8 pm, only taking breaks to eat!