10/30/2010 - Soccer season party

I had a blast coaching 1st grade girls soccer this year. It was challenging for me simply because I’d never really experienced it from any perspective really. The girls had fun and I got some very nice compliments from parents after the season. Most importantly, some very helpful parents stepped up in a big way. It made the experience really fun for me. And the coaches gift at the end of the season was unbelievable. Myself and all 3 asst. coaches received some very nice (and expensive) Nike-Livestrong Air Max shoes. I couldn’t believe how generous that was. I love the shoes. Coaching also made me realize that getting some good coach training/certification would make me a much better coach. Lots of learning and lots of fun. But whew…I’m glad it’s over (for this fall anyway).

Dad, are we upside-down?

I’m driving with our kids after sundown one day last week when a thoughtful question comes from the back seat. “Dad, are we upside down?” said Moriah. I respond: “Not that I know of. The car is driving on the road like normal. What do you mean, sweetie?” She takes a moment to put her thoughts into words, then says, “Well, during the day time, we are closer to the sun and on the top of the world. But when it gets dark, that means we are on the other side of the world and we are upside-down, right?” My first reaction was to explain gravity, etc. But then I got to thinking about it, and maybe she’s right. Hhhmm. One of those imponderables.

And you thought this was a question about the LTV ratio on our mortgage.

October 14, 2010 - Low Carnitine in the blood

After the previous post, the next day we got a call regarding baby's carnitine level. Normal is "25". His level is a "4". So, there may be some issues we will have to deal with. Thankfully there is a supplement for boosting the carnitine in a child, so we'll be giving him that 4x/day for a while. Hopefully this does the trick and the 3MCC will not have much affect on him. It's tough to bring one of these little spirits to earth without "some" issues. He really is such a cute little fella.

October 12, 2010 - Baby Health Issues

Our baby boy has had some issues to work through in his first few weeks of life. First, he was a bit jaundice. We had a jaundice child 10 yrs ago and the primary treatment was placing her under a special UV light to allow her to absorb the rays and eliminate the elevated bilirubin count in her blood. This time, the docs had us wrap him in a special fiber-optic blanket that has a neon-looking green glow to it. He could not take it off except for diaper changes and the like. It is plugged into a special light production box that resembles a computer, so he was not very mobile. It was expected that he would only be on this blanket for 24 hours, but it turned out he was in it for nearly an entire week. It appears the jaundice is mostly behind us.

The more significant issue he’s dealing with was suspected to be a rare form of a metabolic deficiency commonly called “3-MCC” (3-methylcrotonyl CoA carboxylase). This basically means that he is missing an enzyme that does not break down leucine (found in foods with protein). This enzyme essentially filters out harmful substances from the bloodstream. The potential effects on the child is that he may not process proteins correctly, thus not get specific types of energy that his body needs to thrive. 3MCC children are known to get very sick from simple, regular sicknesses like a cold or fever. It is likely that we will have to learn a whole new world of dietary needs. These were some of the many concerns floating around our heads as we tried to figure out what is going on with this deficiency.

HOWEVER, after a bit of research and getting more and more worried about the situation, our time to meet with a metabolic specialist came on October 12th…and we were basically told not to worry about it. Apparently most 3MCC children never have any significant symptoms and that we will simply need to monitor the carnitine levels in his blood. That’s a key indicator, which even if it does get low (not likely), it is easily treatable. So, it’s a big ... wheeew, that’s a relief! We were very happy to discover it may not be a big deal at all. If it does happen, we’ll be prepared. But it is great to know we’ll probably have a happy, healthy little guy. Sometimes these newborn screenings can uncover issues which can make parents worry more than necessary. I am glad we were able to gain some perspective by meeting with a specialist. Because the online reading I did about it made it sound like a “big” deal. Rare, yes. “Big deal”, probably not. But I am glad we’re aware of it and know it’s there in case it becomes an issue.

October 3 2010 - Pride and the Nutcracker

General Conference weekend was last week and our family enjoyed most of the proceedings together. Some of the talks really struck a chord with me. Particularly President Uchtdorf’s talk about pride. He was reiterating the sentiment of Pres. Benson’s talk in 1989, but with his own signature on it. It really hit me hard that pride is a constant threat to my well being. He specified that “taking pride” in something, like your work, is different from the pride of comparison and “one-upping” pride that can be so destructive. It can be self-glorification or it can be jealousy. It can be seeing weakness in others and comparing it to yourself; then the leap of “therefore, I am better than you.” This topic really affected me and is causing me to reevaluate some of the things in my life. He said “We have no time to become absorbed in ourselves”. I’m grateful to have inspired men leading us today.

On that note, there was funny moment when I paused the conference for something while one of the speakers was delivering his address. Our 8-yr old daughter looked at him and said, “Dad, why does he look like the nutcracker?” I looked at the screen and the double-chin action and overall look. She was exactly right. Now I can never look at that person again without thinking about the “nutcracker”. Kids speak the truth, my friend.

William is born

Our baby boy, William Michael, was born yesterday, Tuesday, September 21, 2010. We've been through baby births a few times, and I tell you, it is special every time. William was born at 1:53 pm weighing 7 pounds, 8 oz and measuring 19 inches long. Mommy was cool, calm and collected through the process. She is amazing...probably in a lot more pain and discomfort than she lets on. We really struggled settling on this little guy's name(s). Lots of ideas, but in the end we knew he was William Michael. Both 'William' and 'Michael' are family names. His sisters have already started to refer to him as "Will".

William seems to be a very 'relaxed' baby, although it is only day one. I also got to witness the circumcision today, which was a new experience for me. It is a really simple procedure. It was kinda sad to see him in pain, but it really wasn't as bad as I imagined.

The girls are really excited to have a baby brother. They all want to hold him and see his little hands, feet, etc. Yup, this guy is going to be spoiled by his older sisters.

Any day now...

Melissa has been REALLY ready to have a baby lately. Due date is this week and man, she has been enduring all kinds of discomfort. I’m so grateful for women and the stuff they go through to bring a life into this world. Man, it can be downright miserable at times. She has been induced for every baby birth, but this time she’s really been feeling like labor was coming naturally in the last week or so. But, now that we’re the day before scheduled induction, it does not look like naturally induced labor is in the cards. Late last week she kept telling me “today is the day” and to be ready to rush to the hospital on a moment’s notice. Well, that emergency didn’t come and it looks like we’ll have to wake the little fella up to get him to come out and play.

We’re really excited for baby boy to join us. I’m just so grateful that it appears everything is “normal” and no reason to be concerned for health issues, etc. Life is good. Tough times, but truly, sincerely good.