This Time it's for REAL! Welcome Josie Mae!

Josie Mae Farr

Born July 31 at about 11:15 am

5 pounds 10 ounces

18.5 inches long

35 weeks gestation

She is really here! In the midst of being diagnosed with pre-eclampsia, Amy's water broke at about 5:15 am on Thursday morning. We took advantage of some great friends from church who watched our kids and Amy and I headed into the hospital. Amy's blood pressures were elevated and she had a lot of protein in her urine, nailing down the pre-eclampsia diagnosis. I gave Amy a blessing and we both felt very much at peace. Somebody must have told Josie that the treatment for pre-eclampsia is delivery, because she was quickly on her way. Amy had an epidural placed and dilated very quickly and Josie arrived! She did well, with APGAR's of 8 and 9, but was still taken to the newborn intensive care unit for close monitoring due to her prematurity. Amy was placed on magnesium for 24 hours after delivery, which makes you feel pretty crumby, but she was strong through it and started nursing Josie, who has done great at eating. She is a beautiful little girl and we already feel so close to her, and are so grateful for her safe arrival, straight from heaven. Amy is recovering very well, and will be able to come home from the hospital tomorrow. Josie has her IV out, is eating like a champ, and breathing perfectly, but she will be staying in the NICU for 2 more days or so (at least at this point) for some elevated bilirubin levels (jaundice).

Noah and Micah both adore their little sister and were so excited to get to hold her, and were fascinated by the NICU environment. Unfortunately, Deeken is too little to go inot the NICU, but we are hopeful he will be able to meet his sister very soon.

We have felt very blessed throughout this process! Amy's mom flew in from Utah and has been such a great help and support. Our friends from our ward and the hospital have also been wonderful. We wish more of our family could be here to see her, but we will try to get some pictures posted soon. (If I had been the one who delivered the baby and Amy was in my shoes, you all know there would already be 20 pictures posted!) Thank you for your love, support and prayers! She was unexpected this early, but we are so grateful she is here!

WELL,

Is it Deeken holding Josie, or Noah holding Micah?

The baby is NOT here yet, but can you really tell the difference in the pic? John looks the same, and Noah and Deeken look like they could be twins in this picture! Deeken is now exactly the age that Noah was when Micah was born. That is just so crazy to think!

So here is the pregnancy update...I went to my Doctor today, feeling a bit better, minus some severe headaches, and the Doctor comes in. At first I thought it would be a quick visit, he asks if the baby is moving? How are my contractions? And then the bomb..."well, you have a little bit of protein in your Urine, your blood pressure isn't to high, but it has gone up. So, you get to pee in a bucket for 24 hours and we are going to see if you have pre-eclampsia. You haven't had any headaches or pain in your stomach?" Yes, I have been having headaches. "Okay, well we will see what the results are and take it from there. You are now 35 weeks, the baby may have to come early, and you may have to be on bed rest, and...and....and' My head is swimming.

So for now, I am going to pee in a bucket for 24 hours and wait till I find out if somehthing is really wrong with me. My husband is keeping an eye on my blood pressure(LOVE YA SARAH), and I am trying to take it easy. I tend to be on the dramatic side(for all who know me this is an obvious statement). I am trying to not over react(Sorry about the bomb comment above), but more than anything right now I wish I had my old doctor. Farley or Olmstead would do. I just came here thinking as long as he is competent, it will be fine...but now, I wish I had that reassuring trust that you find with some doctors...oh well, I am sure all will be fine.

I will keep you updated.

This pic is mostly for me to look at. Micah was about two months old in it, and I have been wondering if Josie will look like her. and Yes, I also put it up because I find myself moderately attractive(Chelle will get a kick out of that one) in this picture, and I need to remind myself that I will not alway weigh over 150 lbs!

3 Little Monkies....ooops I forgot the PINK one on Micah's back!

A Saturday all to myself!

Hiawatha Trail The kids and I embarked on a 15 mile bike ride through what has been called "one of the most scenic stretches of railroad in the country." The Hiawatha railroad is no longer present but the trail is spectacular winding through ten tunnels, including a 1.7 mile underground tunnel , and over seven high steel trestles through the Bitterroot mountains.Noah was able to ride the entire 15 miles by himself! He was pretty tired at the end, but persevered, and accomplished a great feat! I pulled the other two in the bike trailer. The trail is a 1% downgrade the entire way, so it was a nice ride.

I think that Noah was almost as excited about wearing and drinking from the Camelbak as he was about riding the trail!

This is the Idaho side of the 1.7 mile underground tunnel that starts in Montana and crosses the state line into Idaho. Noah is up at the upper left of this picture. It was pitch black in the tunnel and wet and muddy. Noah took a pretty hard spill inside and we all got a bit muddy, but ultimately survived.

We took several nice breaks along the way, including this one by a small waterfall.

We took this journey with Clint Humpherys, another resident at Sacrd Heart and his two older kids

This is a spectacular view of one of the lower steel trestles, looking from one of the higher stell trestles. If you look close you can see the bikers.

Here is Clint and his kids.

Micah and Deeken had a great time riding in the trailer, even though it was several hours long.

You can see one of the upper steel trestles in the top of this picture. Noah would look up to where we had been and ask "Dad, we went on that?"

At the bottom of the trail we were tired and dirty, but proud of our accomplishment. We took a 40 minute shuttle ride along dirt roads back to the top of the trail, on a school bus, and then rode back through the big underground tunnel to get back to our car. Total trip Noah pedaled 16.7 miles! We hope that Momma enjoyed her day to herself. She definitely deserved it!

Spokane Stake Pioneer Day at Medical Lake

In Washington we do not get the day off for Pioneer Day, but luckily our stake does one of their biggest activities, or....sadly to say it might just have passed us this year.

As I looked at Noah's feet, I do have to say I am very thankful that I live now, and not during Pioneer times, I couldn't have stood the dirty feet, or so many other things they dealt with. I am very grateful for all that they did to bring the gospel to a place that it could grow and flourish. I love having their legacy to teach my kids...especially being able to use them as an example to teach my kids "YOU CAN DO HARD THINGS!"

Pregnancy Update!

So I went the Doctor yesterday. I have been having lots of contractions and my back is hurting and my legs are swelling. I think that my body is just tired of being pregnant. Five pregnancies in 6 years is a lot for one lady, either that or I am just getting old! So my blood pressure was a little high too, and I asked him to check me...I am only 34 weeks that doesn't usually happen for a few more weeks. I am dialated to a 2 and effaced 40%. This is all kind of backward to me, because I usually efface fast and dialate slow. My doctor showed no signs of worry, if anything, he made it seem like I was over-reacting(who me? Never!) He then gave me worst case scenerio and told me about the NICU and that they probably wouldn't stop my labor since the drugs they give you to stop it, can be pretty harmful themselves. He told me it would be best if I could stay pregnant a few weeks longer....hello, like I am the one wanting the contractions!?! I am sure John would give you a totally different take on the whole encounter, but you are getting this from my perspective sooo.....

So, here is to hoping that the baby waits a while longer, and that I don't deck my new doctor if he makes me feel like a worry-wart again next time.

(One happy note, because of my back pain I get to go see a Massage Therapist!)

OH and a Happy Pioneer Day to ya' all

Confession/Exclamation of Joy

I just want to commit to writing that I know I like to shop.

Hi my name is Amy Farr and I do like to find good bargains. Yes, this may mean that I sometimes come home with things that we do not necessarily need, especially children's clothes. Usually I try to tell how well I have done by simply asking John, "How much would you pay for this?" Then he usually over does it by a couple dollars or sometimes lots more.

On Saturday we were at Old Navy returning some deals that I had found on line and then decided that I didn't need(I love to do this...free shipping, why not?). So, John took the three kids and was looking around.

I found him in the Jean section, where he says to me, "Honey, all of these pants are only ten bucks!"

I then looked at him and said, "No babe, they are only $5 dollars! It is an ADDITIONAL 50% off of clearance."

All the sudden his eyes go wide, and I know he is now experiancing the FEELING. The FEELING I get when I find just one AMAZING deal, except John has shelves and shelves of pants staring him in the face.

I took the kids and let him shop by himself for a while.

Later he comes to me(after trying the pants on), and says, "these fit great(4 different kinds), but I don't know if I REALLY like them, or if I like them just because they are a good deal!"

Ah-hah!!!

Now, I have already told you that I am a little bit of an addict, and this has caused some very MINOR problems in my marriage at points. ("Amy, I know you find good deals, you just don't have to find so many.") But to have John get the FEELING was great! I even got him to bring the pants home, and try them on again, so he could really decided which ones he wanted, while he wasn't engulfed in the middle of the FEELING! I do this quite often, what does it hurt? I will be going back to that store soon enough anyway, undoubtably looking for the next great deal, why not just take back then what I don't want? Plus, Shopping with three kids in tow, just automatically qualifies you for returns. Who wants to try on clothes with three kids?

Now when I lived in Oregon(No sales tax...how aweseome is that?), and even some in Utah, many people benefitted from my bargain shoppping. I know very few people here, so no one here has got to benefit from my, shall we say "Thrifty Habit," but to those of you out there who have, I feel your love....at least for my "Thrifty Habit." And thus, I doubt I am going to break it anytime soon!

(PS I am happy to report that I also had a coupon that if you spend $50 you get $10 free. YIPEE!)