IV fun

Yesterday at clinical I successully started three IV lines in a row! yay! This is a very important skill in the ER, so you can imagine how much pressure I felt to get the procedure down pat. With each successful line, my confidence grew a little bit, and by the end of the night, I was feeling like I could get a line in anybody! (any volunteers out there? haha). Anyway, it might not seem like such a big deal to any of you readers out there, but I was feeling pretty good so I thought I would write about it. I'm sure someday when I am a seasoned nurse I will look back at this post and laugh:)

P.S. This is NOT a picture of my actual patient. I found this on Google. Please don't slap me with a HIPPA violation! haha.

We Thank Thee O God for a Prophet!

President Hinckley will be greatly missed as the prophet and president of the Church. He was a wonderful speaker and I am grateful to say that I had the opportunity to listen to him speak in person at campus devotional on a few different occasions. I loved his sense of humor, and I especially loved in recent years how affectionately he would talk about his wife. I love this picture of the two of them and I am sure they were as blissful at their reunion as they appear in this picture. President Hinckley has been a wonderful example of service and dedication and his energetic spirit persisted until late in life. I love President Hinckley and I know he was a prophet of God. Farewell President Hinckley!

Please excuse the numerous posts all from the same day. I know I said I was going to try and post every day....well, it seems I will be posting several posts in one day and then none for like a week!

Veggies!

So, last night my nurse preceptor was telling me her little boy loved to eat veggies as a baby, but didn't really like fruit. Weird, huh? Well, I think Jack-O may be the same way! He just loves to eat carrots, peas, and sweet potatoes, but he spits out his bananas and peaches! I know he's still getting used to eating food, so maybe he'll end up liking fruit, too. It's so fun to feed him in his high chair. Now that he knows what it's like to real (sort of) food, he just kicks and kicks and whenever he sees me get out his spoon or warm his jar of food! It's so cute!
Some other silly things my little boy has started doing lately:
When he's laying on his back, he pushes off with his feet and clenches his little bum and grunts! (It's really hard to describe, but hilarious to watch!)

When he's really excited, he'll inhale a big gasp like he's really surprised!

When I'm feeding him a bottle, he reaches up, grabs my nose, and turns my head away from himself so he can grab at my earrings! (really funny, but also really hurts!)

SNOW!!!

Yes, it's true! The Great Salt Lake valley was dumped on by snow today! One news reporter was estimating as much as 14 inches this morning! Don't get me wrong, I'm an Arizona girl at heart-which means I hate driving, living, functioning, in snow. However, there is something rather exciting about waking up to freshly fallen, perfectly white and glistening snow! It sure does look pretty....as long as you don't have to leave the house!

Last Wednesday I started my capstone clinical in the Emergency Deptartment! I was so nervous to get started and I really didn't know what to expect, but I was amazed to find out that I really have Learned a lot in Nursing school! ;) It was difficult to get back into the routine though and I hated to leave Jackson again after having over a month off together. There was also some poor planning on my part and it turned out that I left Jackson Wed. afternoon at Grandma Stoker's and then by the time I got home he was in bed. I left Thursday morning before he woke up to go to class and so it ended up that we didn't see each other for nearly 24 hours! That's definitey the longest we've been apart in his short little life, so this was his reaction when I got home after class on Thursday: first he was sort of laugh-crying as pictured above. Then, he just burst into tears....and broke my heart! Then he was just a little angry/confused towards me...and finally I had my happy boy!

Meghan Jane

My cousin Brenna had her little girl early Friday morning and they named her Meghan Jane! Tonight Jackson and I went down to the hospital to meet her. She is such a little doll! She's just barely 6 lbs. and she makes Jackson look like a monster! It made me realize the past 6 mos have gone by REALLY FAST since it seems like just yesterday we were bringing Jackson home from the hospital! Congratuations Jesse and Brenna! You have a beautiful little girl!

Back to School

I started up classes again yesterday. It actually wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. My past experience has been that the first day of a new semester in the nursing program is completely overwhelming. But, I managed to get through the day without feeling like I was going to have a nervous break down! I am anxious to begin my clinicals, though. I guess I am just feeling a little bored/ready to dive in and get this last semester over with. I know I need to enjoy all the spare time I have now, but it's getting to the point where I really don't know what to do with myself:) Hopefully I can get started on my clinical hours some time next week. Until then, I am just really enjoying all the time at home with my boys!

Video

I am working on figuring out our new video camera, then hopefully I can get some funny clips of our little guy on here as well!

New high chair

So, for Christmas, G&G Woodbury got Jackson a high chair! It is so pretty-I absolutely love it and I think Jackson does too! When I put him in the high chair he kinda peeks over the side and and grins because he realizes he is up high! It's darling. Since he's been sick, he hasn't been eating much, but I decided to try and feed him some cereal today in the high chair. he wouldn't eat very much, but I got some cute shots!

Well, I am new to this whole blogging thing and I was really excited about it. I even made it one of my New Years resolutions to blog a little everyday since I am a horrible journaler. So...seems like I haven't done so great with my resolution so far! But, I have an excuse. My poor little boy has been sick! He caught a cold and has an awful cough :( He's so cute, though-He will cough and cough and when he's finally done he let's out this little yelp like he's so tired of being sick! It's pretty funny. I am so glad I have been able to be home with him this whole week, though and I am really not looking forward to going to class on Thursday. Daddy will stay home with him, though, so I guess he will be OK. It's been a nice break from school and we got to do a lot of fun things, so I guess it is time to dive in and get this whole school business over with. I just found out my preceptors in the ED at UVRMC. I guess they both work swing shifts, so that will be interesting with Seth also working swing shifts. Hopefully we can figure everything out babysitting wise. I also just found out my friend Bethany from high school is coming in to town this weekend and is going to be staying with us! Yikes! I've got some cleaning to do-so I guess I better get busy!

Happy (belated) Holidays! Seth, Jackson and I just arrived home from our fabulous vacation to Arizona for the holidays. It was such a nice break! We stayed for 10 days, the longest vacation we've taken by far in our married years! I must say-we needed it! We stayed with my parents in Mesa, who absolutely adored having Jackson so close by 24/7. It didn't take long for Jackson to become aquainted with G & G Woodbury and well as Uncle Brian, Aunt Dana, and Aunt Alison. I think we were all amazed (including Seth and I) at how many hours you can spend just watching a 5 month old. Jackson is so funny! He really was the majority of our entertainment for the holidays. Everyone devoured his every coo and smile! Luckily, he was such a good boy for the whole trip. And I was sooo thankful he didn't catch a cold! I worried, of course, with him being passed around to anyone and everyone-he's such a charmer! Seth and I really enjoyed having my family take over his complete care while we were down there- I don't even think I changed a diaper the whole trip! There was always someone more willing and eager to take care fo our little guy. We spent most of the trip visiting family and enjoying the great shopping of the greater Phoenix area. We also spent a couple of days straight just watching old episodes of the "The Office"-I swear I could never get sick of that show! What a great trip! I'm so sad it's over, and I am honestly not sure if I am ready to dive back into school. Nevertheless, it is a week away...where does the time go?