Just before we came to Kyrgyzstan, Greg bought equipment for ziplining. I thought it would be SUCH a wasted investment and BOY was I WRONG!!!! He's used it a BUNCH and each time it's been AWESOME!!! The kids have loved it and he's used it with his brother and had a BLAST! I'm so glad he did it! Greg, his Dad, Randy and his brother, Chris, went at NIGHT (notice the headlamps).

What can I say, my man knows how to have fun :)

I really like all these pictures.

Scarlet's been talking about feeding the baby since before he was born. She's been VERY excited. It was really hard for her to wait, but she finally got her chance! I wasn't here, but Greg let her do it all by herself. She was so happy to tell me!!!

Oh man, I love my kids.

Little Marius. He is plumping up already. He's growing so fast. It's all passing so much quicker than the last two. That is a little unsettling. He is so sweet. He's been SMILING!!! And talking a LITTLE. It's been so sweet. I love that he smiles and reacts to us now. It makes us all so happy. I love that he sees us now and is aware of what's going on around him. There is a black and white picture above Greg and I's bed and he LOVES it. He stares at it so much! I joke with Greg that we need to take a picture of it before we leave home to Kyrgyzstan, so he can stare at it in Bishkek too. But I sort of wonder if we should! He really loves it!

He also REALLY likes the sound of water. When he's fussy I go straight to the sink and turn on the water. It calms him so fast and works so much better than my "shhh"ing.

Blah! So Marius was born with a little dimple right at the end of his tail bone. I never would have noticed, had the pediatrician not pointed it out to us. They did an ultrasound the day he was born to see if anything was wrong underneath. They thought they saw a little cyst on the end of his spine. She said it was probably nothing but would send the ultrasound to her friend, who is a specialist in Portland. Next thing we know, we're told she wants to see Marius in Portland. Great. Long story short- he had an MRI. It was stressful. I kept putting all my emotions off and hardly bringing it up with anyone, because I didn't want them to freak out about it and make me feel worse. But the day before his appointment I pretty much broke down. It was not fun. I was really afraid of the results. There were a few things the specialist was looking for. When all was said and done- the scan was clean and he's perfectly healthy! Hoorah! I was so sure something was wrong, I almost didn't believe her when she told me. I thought she must be wrong. But I'm really glad everything's ok. What a relief! I was really stressed out about feeding him, because he couldn't eat 4 hours before the MRI, and it ended up be 5 hours, by the time they took him away and there were all these technical problems with the monitors, so what was supposed to be 45 minutes turned into 2 1/2 HOURS and he went without eating for 10 hours. I didn't have a CLUE it was going to be that long and was wishing I PUMPED in the meantime, but I kept thinking they'd bring him out any minute and then it took him longer to wake up then they said it would. So I was kind of freaking out about it all taking longer than expected. They didn't tell us they were having problems so at the 1 1/2 hour point I got up and asked for an update. When they finally brought us to him, the nurse brings us to his bed, which was just covered in blankets. She kept talking to us like he was there, but I didn't see him. I only saw this-

I was so confused. After 30 seconds or a minute I ask, "Where is he?" And she says he's there. I look at the blankets and think, "What????" Then I go to the other side and see this-

I was totally freaked that he was in SUCH an intense pile of blankets. Why did he need such a cave of blankets?!! I was really freaked to see the oxygen thing there too. The wires, everything! It all just looked really intense to me. Nobody ever seemed worried, but would they let on if they were??? It was a strange and not great experience. I asked about feeding him when he woke up and they said he'd definitely wake up before an hour's time. So we just sat by his bed and stared at his little face for an hour.

We hadn't eaten since 8am and by this time it was 2pm. We were STARVING!!! They kept saying, "You need to eat! Take shifts!" But he hadn't even woken up yet! And they kept telling us everything was gonna be sooner than it was. We would've eaten during the MRI wait, but we thought it was going to be less than an hour. So every stopping point just added on to our hunger. They just kept putting warm blankets on him and I thought, "He hasn't eaten for 10 hours and is snuggly and warm- why or how would he get the strength to wake up and eat? After an hour, one nurse clues into this and says to uncover him and try to wake him up. Before they put some glucose in his IV to wake him up. It helped him stir, but not enough. They said when he woke up he'd be all "drunken" and not be able to latch, really. Boy were they right. It was really strange and freaky. I'm glad they told me or I'd be freaking out. It was strange and I didn't like it. That's all I can tell you. But a couple hours later he ate really well and seemed totally back to normal.

I was really nervous about them putting in an IV, but they did really good. It was REALLY strange to see them put him out. Newborns are always sleeping, but watching him suddenly drift off after they pumped something in his IV- I didn't like it. It was weird. So right before they drug him up, they ask if he's been sick and Greg plays it off like he isn't and I'm like, "No, he totally has a cold and has been flemmy and coughing." The doctor tells me about how the anesthesia often gives infants trouble BREATHING, but they can give them oxygen or even put a tube down their throat, when this happens. Say what????? He's ALREADY having trouble breathing! We're going to MAGNIFY this!!! He's going to die today! He's going to stop breathing and never wake up. I seriously can't get these thoughts out of my head. I'm convinced we're sending my baby to his grave for no reason at all. I am freaking out. I start crying and second guessing and asking Greg if we should wait 'till he's older. He says to keep going and that they know what they'll monitor him the whole time. I say, "monitoring isn't preventing! They can just monitor him as he stops breathing and dies!" Eventually I consent and suddenly he's gone and I'm a mess.

But it all turned out all right. Blah. Let's move on.

I got to see my long time friend, AMY!!!! I haven't seen her in years! It was soooo good to see her. We had such a good time. It was honestly, like not a day had passed. This girl and I just get along! It was great to catch up and just great to have a friend to talk to. What can I say? I've been short on good friends the last year. Really short. It's been quite rough, to be quite honest. It was great to get back in touch. I felt like such a frump around her, because she's so dang cute, but that's ok.

Greg blessed Marius. So much family came! Grandma and Grandpa were there, but left before the picture, darn it! It was so wonderful having everyone there. The spirit felt strong. I loved seeing how many men stood up to be in the circle. I loved having that many men hold the Priesthood in my family. It was comforting and nice.

My handsome man.

Mom sewed this outfit. I really like it. It fit him well!

I've had so many thoughts I want to get down- but I'm tired. It will have to wait for another day!