Rotten Teeth & Rotten Smells

Sam's tooth extraction was short and went well...I think he even helped the dentist pull it out! He brought it home in an envelope and we'll do tooth fairy tonight! He got a little funny feeling in the car...I think he thought he was going to throw up. He said "I don't think we can go anywhere today, Mom" I'm glad I decided to go to the store and get pain medicine and a movie BEFORE we went. Oh, he wore his sunglasses the entire time at the dentist, but forgot the lamb he was going to take to hold. He keeps wanting to go look at his "golden" in the mirror (I keep telling him the spacer is silver but he wants to call it gold). He played a joke on the dentist by putting his rotten teeth on when he got called back--it was totally his idea. We go back next week to get some cavities taken care of. I hope he's not afraid of the dentist after this!

Through this experience I have learned:

--You can double up on Motrin AND Tylenol at the same time. Very important information for a mom to know when her child is crying constantly and can't be comforted. There are little sticky medicine dosing cups all over our house now.

--I'm not the worst mom in the world for letting Sam get cavities...lots of friends had stories to share that made me feel better. Thanks, friends.

--It's hard to be an adult, but this was another lesson in asking questions and trusting my instinct. I am realizing that all professionals are just people like me. Even medical professionals have to trust their instincts, and some have better instincts than others. And some are better at getting things right the first time than others. We dealt with both. (sigh)

--I'm getting old...the dentist was definitely younger than me and had actually been to MOPS before. And, in an unrelated incident, I was called an "older woman" this week. (big sigh)

--For as much of a cry-er Sam can be, he does really well when he needs to act grown up. I am proud of him!

Last night, while getting ready to send Evan to Phoenix with Jeremy to spend the night with Jeremy's parents (in Tucson), a skunk sprayed right outside our bedroom window. There are few times I have seen Jeremy so animated...shutting windows, opening them, setting up fans, hunting around with a flashlight. It was pretty stinky in our house...the kind of stink you can taste. It's not a good taste. I remember that my sister used to like a skunk scratch-n-sniff sticker that we had when we were kids. She also liked the smell of gasoline. Anyways, Jeremy and I slept in Annie's room (which actually smelled like stinky diapers because of the diaper champ that is definitely not as odorless as it brags to be). The boys slept the night away (in their room that smells a little like pee, no matter how many times I wash the sheets/comforters/matress pads) without knowing anything.

I did some work in the yard this weekend, since I let everything die since Annie was born. I am proud of these marigolds that God grew from my grandma's seeds I planted...well, more like scattered really quick one day. She always had marigolds around the porch of her house at the ranch in Utah and harvested the seeds. I am going to try to see if I can save some seeds to keep the tradition going.


Here are some pictures of us having a cook-out in the backyard the night before last (before our yard was taken over by skunks--who dug up the new shrubs I planted, by the way. I wish I had a BB gun.). I guess it's the closest we'll have come to camping as a family this summer. I tried to get Jeremy to set up the tent on the grass for the boys to play with...but he talked me out of it (another sigh). In the end, I was glad we didn't because it probably would have been me trying to dismantle it the next morning, and a skunk would have probably taken up residence in it and we would have had to throw it away (and I would have had to take a bath in tomato juice).





And here's Annie 'cause she's cute. I have a feeling she'll get away with a lot around this house for that reason.

To CA and Back

Well, it could be too early to really tell, but Evan MIGHT like Annie! At least a little bit...last week, I caught him reading books to her when she was crying, and then right before we left for California, I caught this moment on film:

This is the approach--checking her out and deciding what to do

He comes in for a closer look, still a little aloof

And now acceptance and a peace offering--Mike and Ike's candy.
Luckily, she didn't take any candy, but I don't think that will be the last time she is offered a forbidden item by one of her brothers.

Annie isn't exempt from any of the acrobatics Jeremy subjects our (willing) children to...but I think he's definitely gentler with her.



We were planning a trip to California while Jeremy went to Atlanta to visit his brother and hear evangelist and apologist Ravi Zacharias and teen heart throb Kirk Cameron speak (I just think it's a funny combination). When I told Evan it was time to pack (after his bath), he got excited and put on his backpack ("packback") and rushed to the door.

My mom flew out and drove with me to California. We were fine except for the fact that Sam peed his pants within the first 45 minutes of the trip (succeeded by 3 more emergency potty stops on the side of the road...where does he store it all?) and Evan's meltdown in the Kingman Burger King. Our first day in CA, we went to our friends' house in San Clemente. Their backyard is the beach. Nice.





My kids love playing with Grandpa. Evan calls him "Campaw", which is cute. Campaw made them this crane...I'm sure he was teaching Sam the proper physics principles with it when I wasn't watching. And I bet Sam was using it to crash and destroy stuff when Grandpa wasn't watching.

I took a picture of "Campaw" in an unusual moment when the kids weren't trying to play with him.

He's so tired, he just fell asleep on the floor. I used to feel sorry for him that he only had daughters. Now maybe I see that he would have a lot more gray hair if he had had boys. I can feel mine turning gray many days while taking care of those busy guys. He had some good sweet moments with Annie, too--she always calms down and falls asleep with him.

And with Grandma, too.

My cousin Jenny and her husband Jon came to visit and fell in love with my sister's dog (I wasn't offended because they complimented my kids first).

Here's Evan eating a chocolate chip cookie while swimming--two of my favorite things to do, just not usually together. I don't think the old "wait half-an-hour" rule applies to a wading pool.
We tried to take some family portraits. This one finally worked:

This one not so much:

We had a birthday party for me with my old gang from high school...it's hard to talk with so many little ones between us!


(I love how kids act around cupcakes...you can practically see them salivating)

The boys sleep in tents while at my parents' house. I don't think Evan will fit in his for much longer. Sam always wants to zip the whole thing up and comes out soaking wet with sweat in the morning.


The drive back to Flagstaff would have been great (Sam wore a pull-up the whole time, lesson learned), except that Sam got a horrible toothache. Now we are dealing with dentist/orthodontist appointments around town and maxing Sam out on pain meds until he can get a pulp extraction to save a dying tooth. Yuck! The boys were so good at the 90 min. dentist appointment...entertained the whole time by 2 cars and a nursing cover that doubles as a superhero costume (oh, and Sponge Bob blared in the background on the t.v. but they weren't too interested...yay!)

Fearful and Wonderful

It seems that the last few weeks of life in the Lundgren household has been full of emotions: the ups and downs of dealing with little sleep and 2 preschoolers + a new baby, dealing with conflict and hurt feelings, the excitement of preparing for a new MOPS year, the strain of Jeremy's new seminary schedule (2 whole days in Phoenix followed by a long work day=frazzled mother and 2 kids desparately in need of a "wrastle" with Daddy), and just yesterday the added fun of another fried cell phone for me. But, the strongest emotional experience has been the death of a friend's baby and the resulting lessons/struggles/fears/thankfulness that I feel because of it.

Some of you remember that I wrote about visiting a friend, Tanya, in the NICU in Phoenix after her baby had been born at 28 weeks with some serious health problems. Baby Leah passed away last week and we went to her funeral last night here in Flagstaff. She was 5 months old.

Tanya and I had been pregnant together--I think her due date was just 6 weeks ahead of mine. Our church secretary is close to both Tanya and I and was so excited for both of our babies--always talking about us to each other and comparing our belly sizes (oh, a pregnant lady's favorite topic of conversation: analysis of her belly size :)). When we heard that Tanya was having complications and had to have a C-section at 28 weeks, we were shocked, especially because this was a surprise pregnancy for Tanya and Rob (their other 2 kids are in 6th and 9th grades) and it had taken some getting used to--and now this?! Leah was airlifted to Phoenix because of some health problems.

In the following weeks, we would hear updates on baby Leah and Tanya, who was now basically living at the hospital in Phoenix while her husband and 2 kids continued life in Flagstaff. Some updates were encouraging, and others discouraging. I was at Tanya's close friend's house when Tanya called to say Leah was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis...what? This new setback on top of everything else? We cried and prayed with Tanya. Leah endured multiple surgeries, breathing treatments, and had lots of scary times of not breathing, but always seemed to pull through. At the time Tanya was enduring all of this, I was setting up Annie's nursery and getting ready for her arrival. I spent a lot of time thinking about the Buckley's situation and realizing that nothing is promised in life except that God is faithful. I couldn't imagine setting up a nursery and getting baby things ready and then not being able to bring home your baby, but I kept just having to put my fears in God's hands.

Jeremy and I had a few opportunities to visit Tanya and Leah in the hospital. Each time, I was overwhelmed with the medical issues they had to deal with. But, at the same time, I was so touched by the love and commitment Tanya showed to that little baby. She just lived for the moments she got to hold Leah, and I saw her be so proactive in helping the nurses and cleaning up Leah's bed and making sure she had everything just right. I saw the heartbreak on Tanya's face when a curt nurse informed her that her first skin-to-skin holding session had to be cut short because of the nurses' shift change. I heard doctors come in and deal devastating blows in casual conversation..."Leah's lungs are the worst I've seen in all my years of practice", etc. I couldn't imagine what it would be like to be a mother and hear those words...I knew how thankful and proud I would feel when the doctors would tell me that Annie's heartbeat was great or that she must be smart because she was already head down--mothers love hearing "praise" of their baby. I just couldn't imagine how Tanya could keep such a good attitude. After one doctor said that Tanya should prepare herself for the future, to "not get so upset", she turned to me while stroking Leah's hair and said, "What else am I supposed to do? She's here and she's alive. I HAVE to fight for her. I'm her mother!" To me, watching what the Buckley family sacrificed for baby Leah was evidence of us not being the mere result of a biological accident (evolution) but creatures designed in the image of a loving God. How else could someone love a helpless little baby who required so much except for the fact that God loves us in the same way and he put that quality inside of us. It was so touching at the funeral to hear the family talk about what a blessing Leah was to them, not just how much they blessed her by caring and fighting for her.

There were so many touching moments at the service last night...just seeing the tiny pink casket, hearing the words of a mom whose baby was next to Leah in the NICU and had become close friends with Tanya, and the slideshow that showed pictures of the family on a blanket outside of the hospital in the last hours of Leah's life (she had never been outside before that)--eyes red with tears but smiling and talking to her...I could imagine all the love they were giving her and the last words a mother would say to her dying baby. I was touched when Tanya hugged me afterward and said there were some things that they had bought for Leah that she wanted me to have. I was relieved that the whole family is back together at home again (well, that's the bittersweetness--it's not the whole family anymore, Leah will always be missed). I thought our pastor handled the service well, sharing about how death entered the world and how good God is even in situations like this. One my favorite things he said was a story he told about a couple that had lost a young child and was struggling even a year later to deal with their grief. They decided to go on a trip to the holy lands to get away and try to find some perspective. While on a bus tour in the countryside, they saw a shepherd trying to get a flock of sheep across a ditch. The sheep weren't budging, so the shepherd went and picked up a lamb and put it on the other side of the ditch. Immediately, the mother jumped across and the rest of the flock followed. The man turned to his wife and said, "We can go home now. I understand. God took our little lamb to be with Him, so that our hearts would follow in that direction." God is so good!

Ever since this situation happened, I have been thinking about how the Bible says we are fearfully and wonderfully made. The human body is so intricate and health problems are so devastating, and yet even little Leah had a purpose and gave reason to praise God. And the fierce love of Tanya and all the Buckleys is more evidence of how wonderfully made we are! Here is a picture of someone else who is fearfully and wonderfully made.


The day I heard that Leah wasn't going to make it, I couldn't stop watching the miracle of Annie breathing in and out. And last night, I held her for a long time, thanking God for His goodness to me and to the Buckleys. One time while visiting Tanya, I asked if it was hard for her to spend day after day in that tiny room with no t.v. or computer or anything. She said, "I've never known how much longer I will get to hold her, so I truly enjoy every minute of it." Isn't that the truth for all of us?

This morning, we changed gears from sadness and contemplation to...the Demolition Derby. I was glad I wasn't the one driving home because I was tempted to crash the car into things after watching all that excitement!