August

August was a wonderful month for us- full of adventure and family!

We started the month out with a wonderful evening spent on the plaza for my Dad's birthday. A visit to Brio Tuscan Grill (where we ordered at least one of every food item on the happy hour menu!) followed by delicous dessert on the patio at The Cheesecake Factory.

We then jet setted our way to Key West! We had an amazing time! We stayed at a quaint bed and breakfast just blocks from downtown . We spent the first couple days touring the whole island and visiting museums via the Old Towne Trolley. Each night we mixed things up with an adventure outing. The first was a haunted ghost tour- it ended up quite theatric, but still very entertaining. Our second night was by far the most amazing- we took a private biplane tour at sunset! The views were absolutely breathtaking and the plane gorgeous on its own. The third day we set out on our rented bicycles to adventure on our own. We ended up at a lighthouse and toured a retired US Coast Guard ship before making our to Lobsterfest, where we enjoyed a great lobster tail dinner. That nights adventure was a sunset kayak eco-tour. It was so wonderful to be out on the water in the quiet of the night. Our guide was highly educated regarding the activity of the birds and marine life, making sure we didnt miss a thing. The next day we biked to the beach for some fun in the sun and toured a small fort right on the water. We spent that evening enjoying sunset cruise on a beautful replica schooner. It was so great to be out on water for the first time! We ended off our last day with a snorkel adventure, which we were told was a must see since Key West has the only living reef in the US. Well, I am here to tell you that unless this is your first snorkel trip, you will be disappointed. I could just be bitter due to the fact that I became close friends with a jellyfish, but, truly, the only marine life we saw were a nurse shark and stingrays. We ended off the night with a visit to Mallory Square for sunset celebration, which is a collection of street performers entertaining crowds with the sunset as their backdrop :)

Here is the link to look at all of the pictures:

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/set=a.10150307163528925.343184.680153924&l=a5e0883e0d&type=1

We returned to Missouri to let the excitement continue as we jumped right into helping with the finishing touches for David and Brittney's wedding. They had a beautiful Saturday morning as the backdrop for their St. Louis Temple ceremony, followed by an adventure back to Independence for their reception that evening. It was so wonderful to be able to spend time with the entire Kent family together!

Here is the rest of the pictures:

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/set=a.10150281588138925.337544.680153924&l=818082bec1&type=1

We had an amazing month: perfect babymoon vacation and a wonderful time spending the month filled with family and friends! We are now looking forward to fall and all the great adventures it will bring :)

Crystal

July

This July started with a bang (ha!) as we enjoyed spending a wonderful Fourth of July weekend. We had a bonfire/weenie roast/fireworks show on Sunday night with my Dad and siblings, followed by spending the morning of the fourth at the waterpark. A new favorite spot of ours that has been less than two blocks from our house for years! We spent the evening of the fourth with Kent/Redd clan enjoying some wonderful BBQ, fireworks on the Square, and an assortment of fireworks of our own back at home.










Jason and I went to our second prenatal visit on the 13th. We had the most amazing experience hearing our sweet little babies heartbeat for the first time! Even our (flat affect) Doctor was genuinely surprised with how quickly she was able to locate the heartbeat and the steady strength at which it was thumping away :) While there, we scheduled our 15 week appointment and our 21 week ultrasound, during which we will be able to find out gender (and visualize anatomy-the most important thing to a NICU nurse!) We (mostly I) decided to celebrate this wonderful event with a DQ icecream cake :)




On another note, over this last week wardrobe has increasingly become an issue (nothing to do with the aforementioned cake)- my "fat" pants are now even a little snug! I have been quite surprised how quickly my true baby bump (no longer just baby bloat) has begun to take shape. Hello belly bands, you are my new best friend!

Jason and I have also spent a good part of this month re-booking and planning for our babymoon! We have chose to spend a week in Key West during early August. We are flying directly there and spending the week in a beautiful little bed and breakfast, with plenty of site seeing, boating, snorkeling, and even a sunset flight in the plans. We lucked out and will just so happen to be there during Lobster Fest! We are so excited and can't for our last vaca just the two of us :)

We are very much looking forward to an August full of vacation, family, and and a much needed break from work/school!

Jason and Crystal

The Year of 3's

This year officially marks the year of three's for Jason and I:

Three years of friendship
Three years of dating
Three years of marriage
And now...
Baby Kent will officially be making us a family of three!

There is even a little more humor in the fact that we officially found out we would be entering the journey of parenthood on June 3rd!

As many of you now know, we have been plotting, planning, and making preparations for several months now. The final giveaway being the purchase of a sedan :)

Jason and I made an impromptu visit to the hospital at 6 weeks, and were able to see the first images of our sweet little baby. It was to early to hear the heartbeat or even get an accurate count of the heart rate, but we were able to see the tiny little heart beating away :) It was so great to watch Jason's reaction as he saw the baby for the first time, making things so much more real for him before he shared his Father's Day news.




Yes, that little blur there is a 6 week old baby. Our official due date is February 7, 2012.

So far, things have been going pretty smoothly with exception of our little bump in the road. I have been feeling pretty well, with the first signs of nausea making there grand appearance at 6 weeks and really hitting at 8-9 weeks. I have been able to keep it at bay for the most part with Preggie Pop Drops (an amazing sour hard candy with herbs and ginger), Mommy's Bliss (a ginger supplement), plenty of ginger ale, and eating alllll day long. I had one bad morning when I changed from my peanut butter toast routine, and needless to say, I wont be doing that again!

Jason and I have much enjoyed (ha!) going through my wardrobe to find me "fat" pants, which are only two pair of jeans and one pair of capris to accomodate my daily varying baby bloat! I had nooo idea how bad it would be- there are days where I already look 4 months along! I am assuming (and hoping) most of this has to do with my extra progesterone boost I am currently getting and will end at 12 weeks when I get to bid it farewell.

We go to our next appointment July 13th and are anxiously awaiting the opportunity to hear our little ones heartbeat and make sure everything is progressing as planned. I am praying for all good news to post next week :)

2011

This has been a big year for us so far! Which is still no excuse for blog neglect.... and I am not going to try and make one :) But here is at least a brief overview:

Jason has officially returned to school full-time! The plan for now is mechanical engineering, although he can help but be tempted by something in the medical field after watching stuff on TV, seeing my pretty great work schedule, and listening to my conversations with co-workers at social gatherings. He is loving school so far and doing great! Even with incredibly poor study habits ( at least in my eyes ;) ) he managed to pull of a 3.75 GPA his first semester back! Not to brag, but I am pretty darn proud and impressed with that after a five year break from school. Now he is busy working his way through summer school with his first online school experience.

Next up is vacation!

We went on our third cruise in October with stops in Samana, Tortola, Antigua, Dominica, Barbados, and St. Kitts. We enjoyed several excursions- kayaking in Samana,a full beach day at Jost Van Dyke in Tortola, snorkel/swimming with GIANT stingrays in Antigua, a private tour with a local that another couple and us hired after all of our excursions were canceled due to rain in Dominica (which is now by far my favorite place in the world!), sadly walked around through he destruction left in Barbados after a hurricaine hit the day before we arrived, and ended off the amazing 10 day cruise with ziplining in St. Kitts. We had an amazing time, made great new friends, and can't wait for our next cruise! Here are those photos:

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.454052758924.244875.680153924&l=276c35489e

=a.454052758924.244875.680153924&l=276c35489e

We also had our first experience traveling outside of the "kids in school" time of year in March over springbreak. It actually wasn't quite as awful as we thought it was going to be! We drove to Florida- our longest road trip yet- which went great until a semi-truck decided to side swipe us and keep on driving. We arrived at our hotel soon after, checked in, and spent the next week enjoying to "tourist" side of Orlando. We spent a day at Seaworld, then another day at Seaworld's sister park Discovery Cove where we did some amazing snorkeling and swimming, then we did a two day park hopper pass to Universal Studios for which we also invested in fastpass (aka get dirty looks as cut the entire line! I must say, it was enjoyed :) ), and we ended off the week spending way to much at the outlet malls- and, yes, I did NEED two new Coach purses! Here are the pics from that trip:

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150141155918925.288492.680153924&l=89761c1ec0

Otherwise, we have spent this year revamping our "live on a budget" aspect of life. Planning for the future and being a one income family has brought the importance of this to the top of our priority list. Just this last month Jason dedicated time to get quotes for home owners and car insurance and ended up saving us a whopping $900 per year! He has even bargained with the trash company and got our three month bill dropped by $25 bucks. Most importantly, he has found a much higher interest savings account for us to make our money go even a little further. Kudos to him for having the patience and dedication it takes to make the most of our income! Next on his list is to tackle my retirement savings/401K.

As far as the rest of this summer goes....

We will be spending the next two months with Jason in full time summer school and me working full time/overtime at work. August is really what we are excited about! Jason and I are taking an escape before fall semester starts and spending a week at an all inclusive resort in Mexico- this will be our first time together with a prolonged beach stay in one place. We can't wait! Soon after we return we get to spend time with the entire Kent/Rosen/Redd clan for David and Brittney's wedding! We are so happy for them and can't wait to have the whole family together :)

I hope you all have a wonderful summer!

Crystal and Jason

As of Late

Wow- I truly cannot believe that July and August have nearly come and gone! This summer, as quickly as it has flown by, has been a great one.

June brought on much time spent with family. We celebrated my Mother's recent marriage with a beautiful lakeside reception at a vineyard. We were able to treasure a few weeks spent David after he returned from his mission before he traveled to Tennessee for summer work. July brought on Square Pizza lunch dates with Kristen, Aubrey, Asher, and Dad. Also, Shandi's graduation and her beginning her first steps into the "real world". Jason and I will be able to watch these first steps up close and personal as she has made the official move into "her own space" in our basement. We have also been blessed with the assistance of Dad to complete some lingering house projects which I never thought would be complete.

There have also been some great events this summer. We were able to attend a Royal's game before David left with Steve and Aubrey. They were great lower level seats gifted to the family. Jason and I were able to attend a Michael Buble concert for the first time, which only made my fanatic stance regarding him grow deeper. We were able to sneak off for a St. Louis getaway which included my first venture to the top of the Arch followed by a run to the car in rain that caused flooding in the city, the free zoo, Six Flags amusement and water parks, Science Center, dinner with friends at the Cheesecake Factory, and, to top it off, a visit to City Museum, the largest adult friendly "play ground" we've ever seen. In August, I was lucky enough to win tickets to a meet and greet/lunch with Sara Bareilles. It was so great to hear her sing live,even better, just 5 feet from us. She has an amazing voice and tops it off with an amazing personality.

Other wise, there have been many professional changes for both of us. Jason has been getting by without full management staff as his assistant manager has relocated to another state. He luckily survived and actually saw great increase in sales during the back to school madness. All of his hard work is paying off as he was surprised with his largest bonus check yet at Adidas. He is also getting back to a full staff as he has spent much of the last two weeks in interviews. This will be great as we quickly approach the holiday season. For myself, I have officially experienced our ICN unit at max capacity this summer. We are officially a 60 bed unit with our patient population typically taking up approximately 75-85 hospital beds. Needless to say, our expansion to 80 beds just cant happen quick enough. I have also decided make another change in my employment status- I have accepted a night weekend option position. This means I will now only work Friday and Saturday nights, which comes along with a nearly 25% pay increase. That's right- work less, get paid more, how could I say no? This position was supposed to go into effect in December, but I was surprised with a phone call yesterday informing me it will actually take place in September.

For the near future, Jason and I are focusing on getting the house in order by completing projects and doing some much needed organizing. We are also looking forward to next planned getaway for this fall- a 10 day Southern Caribbean cruise to Samana, Tortola, Antigua, Dominica, Barbados, and St. Kitts. One last hoorah before we settle in for winter months and holidays full of family and friends :)

One month down!

As most of you know, I just recently completed my first full month on day shift at work. Wow, it has been quite an experience!

The first week went very smooth with a great patient assignment and with the luxury of focusing solely on the time adjustment. But then week two came.....

I spent the second-fourth week relearning to chart in our new computer system, (you just gotta LOVE Cerner! haha) learning the in's and out's of our new "space age" like radiant warmer beds, trialing a new feeding pump, which I will surely veto, and then learning the day shift norm:

* Sending/receiving two kiddos from the operating room: wouldn't be so bad if they worked around my schedule or even stuck to theirs- lesson learned, be flexible!

* One MRI: of course not standard, poor baby required me to administer sedation, but that was actually a great learning experience.

* Not one, not two, not even three, but FOUR patient discharges. This is actually a much larger task sometimes than imagined! Two to quite difficult families. One Dad which made quickly learn you have to draw the "your wont walk all over me" line on the first day. Another lesson learned!

* "Orienting" to the Pediatric ICU in order to prepare to "float" down there when they need extra help, which I had heard is every NICU RN's nightmare! It really went smooth, it is just a challenge to be out of your element and do things so differently.

Overall, there have been times that I have been incredibly happy with switching over to days, times where I nearly came home in tears threatening to switch back to nights. Surprisingly, some of the most rewarding moments have been family interactions. It feels so good to have families look you in the eyes and say thank you, request that you care for the their baby in the future, or trust in your opinion and advice, and most of all have them say "I think I will actually go get lunch today, I know she is in great hands".

Life

An angel opened the book of life and wrote down our baby's birth. Then whispered as she closed the book, "Too beautiful for earth."

These words still resonate in my mind as though I just read them. I am still longing and grasping for just an ounce of the strength it takes for loving parents to truly accept this as their reality.
I had both the blessing and misfortune of sitting on the sideline of this occurrence through recent months.

I couldn't have been happier than the day I walked into work late February to find what a precious little baby that was so peacefully sleeping, awaiting 12 hours of my loving care to begin. I can say it was truly a special feeling when I looked into that isolette and saw the miracle that lay before me. A special heart string was tugged and I was a "primary nurse" for the first time. It was so amazing the moments of pride and joy in which I relished as this baby graduated first in diaper size, respiratory support gone, then to a crib, and next thing I knew I was bathing, dressing, bottle feeding, and cuddling! It was a small glimpse into motherhood a way I had not before experienced this closely. This past weekend was a huge one, as this precious baby which I loved dearly has gone home to one of the best families I have known.

All the while there was another precious baby nearby. I came to care for this little one in many of the same ways I did my primary patient, taking moments of joy as good news arrived and moments of deep sadness as bad news was slow to set in. The term "unofficial primary" was applied to our relationship. From labs and procedures to surgeries and medications, even attempts at life altering medical consults, everyday was full of surprising changes. It seemed as though this little one just couldn't catch a break. In late April the sad news came that we had hit the "beginning of the end" and to just "be prepared". Caring for this precious baby became increasingly more difficult, as even simple nursing tasks would cause quite dramatic changes. This past weekend was a huge one, as this precious little baby was layed to rest.

As I drove to the funeral I couldn't hide the swarm of butterflies in my stomach and the uneasiness in my mind. I called my Mom hoping that a chat would help put me at least slightly at peace and help me get it back together, which helped only slightly. As I arrived and walked in, those feelings again returned full fledged. I couldn't help but wonder if the parents would even know who I was- after all, I was the "night nurse" that most parents had never meet. I entered the chapel and approached the family slowly as I tried to form words. As I approached, all of my fears melted away as the Mother glanced my way and smiled. I spoke my words of condolence, thanked them for sharing their angel, and hugged the parents. They thanked me for being there to support them and for the months of love and care which I had provided. I was then down the path to speak my peace to the precious baby. I had never seen her so beautiful, so peaceful as that moment. I couldn't help but smile as I saw many of her favorite things lying by her side. As I took my seat and fought the tears which had begun to swell, I couldn't help but think- Why?
That is the moment I sat and began to read-

An angel opened the book of life and wrote down our baby's birth. Then whispered as she closed the book "Too beautiful for earth."

Tiny Angel

For a brief and fleeting moment, an angel touched the ground;

With tiny wings and halo, and sweet soft angel sounds.

Blessing the lives of others, in beauty and in grace;

Those who saw the angel, knew God has kissed her tiny face.

The angel came for reasons we may not understand;

A journey brief, with gifts so great, and guided by God's hand.

So rest now tiny angel, your work on earth is through;

In the beauty of God's perfect love we saw his gift in you.

As the service concluded, I watched this Mother maintain the strength to stand and bid farewell to every guest in attendance, thanking them for the support they had offered. Her tears were few and her words were many. I felt so incredibly envious of her resilience and strength.

It is moments like this that make you truly and sincerely thankful for every blessing given in life. I am so incredibly thankful for the people, friends and family, that are truly a part of my life, enriching every day of my being. I believe those relationships are where strength like that comes from.