Happy Birthday Jaren

Because today is a special day for my son Jaren I thought I would let everybody get to know him a little better.

My husband has given me flowers on our children's birthdays because, let's face it, it was my "birth" day as well. It always gets me thinking of that special day. Jaren came on his exact due date, January 31st 2002. He woke me up from a deep sleep at 1:10 in the morning with kicking my bladder, soon after I had my first contractions. Things happend fairly quickly after that so I thought, however, no one seemed to believe me when I told them I was in labor. ( My husband and my doctor ) So my hubby went back to sleep and the doctor would check on me latter. Meanwhile I took a shower. The contractions were becoming too intense so to relieve the presure I sat on the toilet and pushed through the contractions for 45 min. (Hopefully you're laughing at this point and not sick to your stomach) Not the smartest thing I've ever done i know but i didn't realize what i was feeling. I had no idea that i was in actual labor and pushing the baby through. At one point i was tierd and just wanted to get to the hospital, still thinking that i wasn't in "real" labor. So i yelled for my husband to help me off the toilet and as he was entering i felt a POP, a gush of water, and a babies head. My husband starts running around getting things together and calling 911. I however, was paralized. I was afraid to move. I was instructed to lay on my back and wait for the ambulance. I didn't make it that far though before the REAL contractions began. these contractions are made to get the baby out so the body is doing the pushing not the brain. I had to think real hard to NOT push. My way of doing this? Screaming through them. So picture this...... A half naked lady on all fours screaming! my 2 yr old was so sweet, he would pat my head and then back away in terror when i would start to scream agian. I was terrifide that there wouldn't be a woman EMT and i was right. In fact these were the 4 biggest men i think i've ever seen. They seemed to fill the door frame as they entered my house. they got me on the bed and rolled me into the ambulance. These big stronge men looked scared to say the least and they didn't hide it very well. They had one guy in charge of checking under the sheet to look for a head. so every once in a while i would hear oh good, no head. Another guy was sticking things on my chest trying to get vitals. I'm sure this is routine however he was getting upset with me because i was to tense and needed to relax. I barked at him that it would be a bad idea and he shut up real fast. They all got out and then started cussing at each other because they took me to the wrong enterance and then when we got to the right one the never looked so relieved to see the nurses who were waiting. If i close my eyes real hard i can still hear the echos of my screams down the long hallway. As they got me in the room and were moving me to the bed complete terror came over me that this was it. My first birth i didn't feel anything so i was scared that i wasn't going to be able to handle the pain and felt like for sure i was going to be split in two. So, i immediately started begging for drugs. The nurse just laughed as she was prying my leggs apart and said it's way to late for that. My husband and son came right as the baby's head was coming. my poor son is still tramatized by this scene that he was forced to see. A nurse quickly took him out of the room as my doctor was coming in. 2 more pushes and he was out crying his head off. I was so relieved, (in fact i don't think I've ever been that relived, even now) and i was exhasted. He was born at 4:02 am. It was quick and totally worth it. It was my first and only natual child birth. After that i swore i would never do that agian. His full name is D. Jaren Scott Morris. The D represents Donald. He was named after his grandfathers. Also I have an Uncle named Jaren that has always been spiecal to me. He was born in Tucson Az. He had his first birthday in Enid Oklahoma, his second in Ramstien Germany, his third in Corpus Christy Tx, and his fifth and sixth in Cabot Ar. He was a fussy baby but would make up for it with his smiles and snuggles. That still hasn't changed. At a young age he developed an obsession for toys. It started with Buzz Lightyear, then went to Batman and now Star Wars. His favorite color has always been blue. And his favorite food is Macaroni and cheese. He's very loving towards everybody and likes to play with his toys and make believe. He has a wonderful imagination. He is a kindergartener and enjoys P.E class and recess. He HATES nap time! His teachers discribe him as extremly intense and sensetive, but will melt your heart with his genuine spirit and kindness. He fills my life with joy and excitment. Happy birthday my big 6 year old. I love you!

Yes, boys play dress up too!

I love it when i can watch my children use their imaginations. Jaren is really into StarWars right now and so he wanted kelland to dress up with him so they could pretend to fight. Then Jaren came out with marker on his face and called it his scar. He is pretending to be Anikin. And any excuse kelland can use to write on himself he's taking it. I took a video of them and you can tell who's into it and who's there just to dress up. Jaren was wanting so badly to get it perfect for the video. he wasn't very happy with Kelland when he wouldn't cooperate. Ok well i couldn't get the video to work. Sorry about that but it was just Jaren tying hard to get Kelland to fight with him. And Jaren would use words like ACTION and CUT. it was cute.Kelland is just now getting to the age where he plays with others so Kelland and Jaren are starting to play more together. I love to watch them interact with eachother. it makes life alittle easier. Also here are some pictures of my new wood floors. Just for you Nat!

Sotlight: Pedersen Family

Yesterday was a hard day for Don and I. We attended a memorial service of Carrie and Lucas Pedersen. Don flew with Jim Pedersen often and was deployed with him this last time. And I knew Carrie from the spouses group. the last time I remember being with Carrie was at the spouses C-130 ride. It was fun getting to know her better and sharing that experience with everybody. On January 6th they were coming back from Memphis, Which is 2 hrs away from us, and a semi truck stopped abruptly and Jim swerved to get out of the way. Their car hit the truck on the passenger side. Carrie was killed instantly and Lucas was life flighted but died on the way to the hospital. Ashley the special 6 yr old was alert through the whole thing which just hurts your heart to think about. Jim went in and out of consciousness and had to be told what happened. We got to talk to him yesterday and he seems to be putting all his focus on his daughter and faith in the Lord. It's hard to imagine that we can lose any one of us in seconds. Like Jim said it all changed just like that. It helps to put things in perspective. I've concluded that we don't have enough pictures of the family. also that we let the little things get in the way to much and yell at the children to much. Little disputes that can put a wedge in our marriage sometimes is sooo not worth the energy. Also that i want to strengthen my relationship with my savior and really focus teaching my children of the love the savior has for them and how important it is to grow closer to him. And i don't visit my friends enough. or talk to them enough. And my extended family as well. I've been out to Az several times where i haven't taken the time to visit cousins and their families. I'm sure everybody feels this way and unfortunately life will get back to normal and i will probably slip back into the same old routine. But i will try to take this experience to heart. Jim and Ashley have lots of support from family and friend and we are planning to always be there for them And Carrie and sweet little Lucas have changed our live in more ways then one. The Pedersens have made a place in our hearts and we will keep them there always.

Happy new year to us!!!!

Needless to say we've had a rough start. Since the new year we have all been sick. (With the exception of Layton because of his treatments) But my sweet little Brigham has had the worst of it. we took him to the emergency room one night and they sent us home with antibiotics. However his body was not responding and he got much worse in the coarse of a few days. On Tuesday night i could not get his temp down from 103.5 so off to the er we went. They immediately had blood taken and a chest x-ray. through the night and morning every fluid your body produces they took for testing. including a spinal tap to test for Meningitis. They admitted him into the hospital and we were there for 3 days. With all the testing done they concluded that ha had a slight pneumonia in his left lung, an ear infection and a stomach virus. The mystery of it all is that he was way to sick for having minor illnesses. I have 2 other children with immune deficiency so Brig was tested for that and it came back positive for the same thing my 2 other boys have. The combination of all three illnesses at once was to much for my little one to handle on his own. They gave him an IVIG treatment which is an infusion of b-cells and antibodies that his body doesn't produce and by the end of the treatment he was looking and acting 75% better. He now has to do these treatments every month like his brothers but it makes a huge difference. If they didn't have this done there's no doubt that they would be sick in the hospital all the time. Now for your help. This is mostly for my family members who read this but any info is appreciated. If you know of any family history or family members now who have reoccurring illnesses such as upper respiratory infections, ear infections, pneumonia. or any cases of bigger infections like bone or blood infections or meningitis. The doctors are helping us to figure out what exactly the are deficient in and how they have it in the first place. Brigham is doing fine now still a little weak. I took a picture of him with his mask on because when we were at the hospital he couldn't leave the room without wearing it. He figured this out real quickly and so when ever he wanted to leave he would bring me his mask. He did a real good job of keeping it on and now he likes to wear it around the house. I'm not sure why. They also gave him his own stethoscope so that they(the doctors) wouldn't be passing along any germs while we were in the hospital and now that is ours as well. The children love playing with it. If their is anything that i got out of this is that we don't wash our hand enough. And just going to the grocery store could be bad for them. The treatments that they receive will help so we don't have to worry so much about that. Thank goodness!!!!!!!Anyway, our new year is looking up. i just want to thank everybody for their prayers and for my friends for helping out with my children while we were in the hospital. And for the meals that were sent to help us through. We are truly blessed to have such wonderful family and friends that we can count on. Thanks again!!!

Temple lights

He's just mad because he wants to run around in the lights. Sorry buddy! life's not fair sometimes.


I don't have many pictures of my Dad and I so I'm glad this one turned out. I love you Daddy!

My mom and my sister Natalie enjoying this magical night.

My favorite Christmas tradition is to go to the Temple to see the lights. And this year it couldn't have been more perfect. It was chilly but not to cold and i had a lot of fun taking picture after picture. i wish i could have stayed all night. it was truly an amazing sight.

Brigham checking to see if he's going to get in trouble for running through the lights. i should have stopped him but he looked so cute i just had to get a picture. I know, bad mommy!

I love this picture! my sister looks so happy to be with my children. and my children are hanging on her every word. I don't know what she was saying. she could have been scolding them for all i know. I don't care i still love it.

They were pretending to be in the Forrest with the deer. to be a kid again and have that kind of imagination.

he just wasn't happy if we were holding him. he just wanted to left alone to explore. I don't blame him really. this is a kids Paradise.

I love it when they're kind to one another. i know there will come a day when hugging each other is not cool. so i treasure these moments.

i have more pictures but i don't want to bore you. But it was a lot of fun and i can't wait to do it again.

Layton, Jaren, Grandon, Kelland, Brigham

Christmas Trip

We went to see my family for Christmas this year and Brigham is starting to communicate more even though he can only say a few word. He points and grunts a lot. most of the time he still gets his point across. He is very demanding on getting what he wants. He also seems to prefer men over woman especially the men in his life (sorry Grandma and Nana) the first night we were there Grandpa sat with Brig on the stairs sharing some delicious Fruit Loops and just having male bonding time. After that Brigham would get Grandpas attention, motion him to sit at the stairs, and once grandpa sat down he would go into the pantry and get the cereal to share once again. It happened on a regular basis that i just had to take a picture to document the event. One thing that is true about the Morris boys is they know what they want and they usually get it. Brigham Being all of 16 months is no exception. It was a very cute thing to watch. And Grandpa felt pretty special.

My hubby at work. His office in the sky. What a stud!!!

Some more amazing pictures from the sky.

he even got to go to the beach! What a hard life!!!

Over Alaska

Singapore trip

Just recently my husband Don went to Singapore for his job. For people who don't know what he does he is a C-130 pilot for the US Air Force. He was there for about a month. Which

i have to admit makes me a little jealous. Anyhow, I'm very proud of him and still am in aw at what he does. He always comes home with these amazing pictures of him flying up in the sky and so i thought i would share them with you. He also stopped in Japan and Alaska on the way home. He always brings us gifts and things so it can be fun for us as well. It was hard for him to be gone for so long because he had just got back from Iraq. So it's nice to have him home for awhile. We love our daddy.