I thought I would be a whole lot better at writing on here since I was on bed rest, but I ended up having my baby boy a week after my last post.

Daddy's hand next to Ryder the day he was born.

 Ryder Maddox Chlarson was born on 4/13/13 weighing 1 lb 14 oz, and measuring 14 & 1/4 inches long! We are so happy he made it here safe and that he is doing well so far. I know it is the pure power of prayer that has gotten us both through our journey. 

Ryder is 5 weeks old now and is doing really well! He is up to 2 lbs 13 oz and is tolerating his feedings and is pooping regularly! We are so happy about that! Usually preemies right around 32 weeks gestation get an infection in the intestines called NEC that can be very dangerous. Breastfed babies do better when it comes to that so hopefully he will not get the infection. We are so happy with the nurses and doctors caring for our little guy!

I am staying here in the valley while he is in the hospital. I get to see the hubby and kids every now and then. Either they come here or I go back home to see them. It has been rough being torn between both places, but I know it is important for me to be close to Ryder so I can do therapies with him and have my milk there for him. I am so grateful for the people of St. Johns who have given their time to make meals, clean my house and watch my kids! My mom and hubby have been amazing at holding down the fort, but I know they could't do it without the help of our town members. I feel so loved and blessed with how much everyone has sacrificed on my behalf.

 It's been over 3 years but finally I am updating my blog! Lately I have been on bed rest, and will be until my little guy decides to come into this world. Needless to say I have quite a bit of time on  my hands, and I can journal more. 

 These are our newest family pictures taken by my bestie Rachel Richardson. I love this one of all my kids. They are so dang good looking to me!

 The absolute love of my life! I would be so lost without him. I LOVE you Babe!

Man I miss my hubby and kids so much! I am staying at St. Joseph's Hospital in Phoenix 4 1/2 hours away from them! We get to do face time every now and then, but it's not the same. I will be here for quite a while. Not sure exactly when my precious little boy will come into this world, best case scenario I will make it to 34 weeks (May 31), but he will have to be here until his original due date of July 12, 2013. They don't think I will make it to 34 weeks but they will definitely try and keep me pregnant as long as possible. I am 26 weeks today, next goal is to make it to 28! He has done well for the most part, but he has some dips in his heart rate almost everyday. Nothing too bad, but enough to where they want to monitor him closely. The other day (Wednesday) I was bleeding more than I normally did and I was having some contractions, so they put me on magnesium just in case things got worse and they had to deliver. The bleeding had died down by night time, but his heart rate wasn't as steady as they liked it so they didn't let me have dinner that night. I didn't sleep well, they didn't let me eat breakfast and couldn't tell me when I could eat, so I was an emotional wreck and so exhausted!. I was afraid to call anyone cause I couldn't even talk and they would have thought I lost the baby. Thankfully I was able to calm down and his heart rate had been good for a while so they let me eat at 10 am and then they took me off the magnesium. That stuff is horrible! I hope I do not have to do that again any time soon! Today has been a good day and I hope it stays that way!

Finally a new Post!

It is honestly so hard for me to find the time to post on this blog! Well, obviously lots has happened since my last post. We are all doing really well. Just trying to keep up with the everyday tasks of being a housewife and mom.

Getting used to 4 kids was a little hard, but luckily I have lots of help. Larry's job schedule allows him to be home a lot and we still get the benefits of a full paycheck. It is very nice. Connor has a respite provider who is my mom's 1st cousin and we call her Aunt Miriam. She is such an amazing blessing to our family. She is only required to watch Connor, but she goes above and beyond! She will watch all of my kids while Larry and I go on dates. She cooks and cleans and tells me to go and take naps. I am definitely spoiled by her and I LOVE IT! I think my kids prefer her over me. When they get in trouble they cry for her. We love her and appreciate all she does for us. It also helps that my mom lives close by.

Such a happy boy with the best smile!

Since Connor was diagnosed with ASD, things have been a little rough. We feel very lucky that he has mild autism and that he is very loving. He is constantly improving in his speech and he doesn't fall as often, but is always on the go, gets into everything and gets hurt all the time. It makes things easier dealing with him if we keep the house in order, which isn't always easy. Larry and I have found that the trick with him is to keep him busy or entertained. If he gets distracted or bored he becomes very hyper and destructive.

Connor dropped a huge brick on hid toe and the nail ended up falling off. Luckily it grew back.

He has blank stares quite often, which we thought were petite seizures and his PCP thought so too. Our whole summer was filled with Dr. appts. Some consults, some just check ups and others were for EEG's, then some follow ups. I bet we went to the valley more than 7 times from May to Aug. It is so nice to have things back in order and have more of a routine since school started again.

Connor had to have his head all wrapped up so he wouldn't pull out all the wires during his EEG

We got results back from the EEG and there was some slow activity in the brain when he was having the blank stares, but that is normal in children who have autism. They did a 24hr. video EEG and didn't find any seizure activity. It is a huge relief. It doesn't mean he won't have any in the future, but for now he is just a big day dreamer.

He was jumping on the bed and fell. Had to get about 5 stitches

Jace and Kendall are so good with him most of the time, which is such a blessing. I know it is hard on them. Jessie I think is just scared of him. He is always picking her up and dropping her. Then he tries to kiss her and say sorry and she just cries when he comes near her most of the time. It is sad, but Jessie can be a little dramatic.

Dramatic but so cute! We had her blessed in March at our house with all our family and friends that could make it. It was definitely a special day. And THANKS to Grandma Gail (my other mother) She had a beautiful dress to wear!

Just LOVE that smile!


My Best friend Rachel Richardson took some family pictures for us at the very beginning of March before Jessie was blessed and we love them! Thanks Rachel! These were some of our favorites. The ones of the kids are on the side panel of the blog.

We have had lots of fun this year with celebrating birthdays and going on camp outs. We have really been enjoying all of the fun with our family and friends.

This post will be forever long, so I will do more pics of our fun adventures later. I think I started this post some time in Sept. and now it is the beginning of Nov. before it even gets posted. Ugh, I promise to do better!

Merry Christmas!

I am so late in posting pictures, but better late than never.

Jessie Lee Chlarson was born on December 6, 2009. Weighing 8lbs 5oz, 20 3/4 in. long. She has been such a joy to our family and endures lots and lots of smothering hugs and kisses everyday from her brothers and sister. She has been such a trooper with all of the appts. and programs we have had to go to since she has been born. We are so happy that she is here and healthy.

No being jealous of how hot I look! LOL

We had to travel to Mesa when she was only 5 days old. We had had a Dr. appt. scheduled for Connor on 12/14 and it couldn't be missed. It has taken so long for us to be seen by a developmental pediatrician so we had to make the trip. For the last 2 years, we have been to all kinds of doctors, trying to figure out a diagnosis for Connor and to see if this would be something he would grow out of. We have only known that he has mild CVI (Cortical Visual Impairment) and that he is Developmentally Delayed. Well we went to the Developmental Pediatrician and he did tests and evaluated Connor and has diagnosed him with Autism. It was hard for me to hear at first, but it doesn't change who Connor is and now we have more to go on and he can get more help and hopefully better/more therapy. He keeps improving and we are so grateful for that. We are also grateful that his Autism is not severe. He is such a happy boy, and so loving whereas most kids with autism aren't. Our next step is to get an EEG done. When we saw our primary doctor last, the Dr. saw Connor go into a blank stare, which happens often, and he believes it was a seizure. So we are hopefully going to find out about that soon.

We are all doing well and are very excited for Christmas! Jace is especially excited and he even got to see Santa and his elf's. Connor and Kendall have fun taking off ornaments and putting them back on so they are all in one spot. So our tree is not the cutest, but it is decorated with love :) Today we got to build a Snowman. It was lots of fun, then we came inside and had some yummy hot chocolate.

We feel very lucky and blessed to have healthy kids, a warm home to live in, and Larry's awesome job to provide for our family. We hope you all have a wonderful Merry Christmas!

No baby yet

So, the baby ticker says that my baby is 7 days old, but she is actually 7 days late! I don't know how to take the thing off my blog. I don't even remember how I got it on there to be honest. Any way, I am patiently waiting for our little girl to arrive. I know most people might think I am crazy but I want to go into labor on my own and not be induced. Right now I am dialated to a 4 and I am 75% effaced. I have been having contractions off and on for a week, but nothing too painful or consistent. We will text family and friends when she does arrive, then when I have a chance after coming home I will post pictures on here and on face book. Wish me luck! I am scared, excited and nervous.

I updated the post below with pictures.

Busy Life

For the last month and a half, things have been so busy and crazy at our house. Here is what my calendar looked like :)

9/26 - Went to Mesa for a baptism, and bought a Van
9/28 - Took Connor to Opthamologist, still has mild CVI
- car broke down in Payson, good thing we had the van
10/1 - Jace - Soccer game
10/2 - My Dad's B-day
10/5 - Dentist appt. for Jace
- Cooper's B-day (Lamar and Jaime's little boy)
10/6 - Jace - Soccer game
- Jaimie's B-day (Amy and Mike's oldest)
10/7 - Me - Foot Dr. in RV
10/8 - Jace - Soccer game
- Christie's B-day (Amy and Mike's youngest)
10/13 - OB appt. for me in RV
- Jace - Soccer game
10/15 - Tiff had baby Owen!
- Took Connor to ENT- has enlarged tonsils
10/16 - Larry and Lamar turned 30!

We met Lamar's family in Globe for lunch to celebrat the them turning 30

10/19 - I turned 26 went to foot Dr. and
had plantar warts cut out of my feet.
10/21 - Zach's B-day (Jaime and Lamar's oldest)
10/22 - Parent Teacher Conference- Jace is doing great!
- Reilly's Birthday
10/23 - Carson (Logan's boy) and Courtney's (Deb's girl) B-day
10/24 - Connor (turned 4) and Cheri's (Ruth's youngest ) B-day

10/27 - Was offered a job with NEC and I accepted!
10/28 - OB and Foot Dr. Appts in Showlow
10/31 - Halloween was lots of FUN!
- Natalie's B-day

Jace was Bumble Bee from Transformers, Connor was Sherriff Woody and Kendall was a Lady Bug Larry and I were just supposed to be a King and Queen, but he looked like the Burger king guy, so we were Burger King and Dairy Queen.

11/04 - Connor had his tonsils and adenoids removed
- OB appt. for me

So lots of trips to either Round Valley or Show low for Dr. appts and lots of birthdays. October always seems crazy with all the birthdays, but adding all the appts and trying to get myself ready for a new job and for the baby to come, it has been even more hectic.

Larry has a deer hunt up by Thatcher next weekend and I start my new job on Tuesday11/10. I will try and get as much training done as I can before the baby comes. Let's hope I don't have her early. I've never gone into labor early before, but watch just because I have so much that needs to be done she we come early. We'll just have to wait and see. I have 3 weeks left, wish me luck!
Larry and his scruffy beard for his dear hunt, I can't wait till it comes off!