Jozie Tucker

From beginning to end, Jozie entered this world in a very dramatic and miraculous fashion, full of tender mercies.  A couple years after Quentin was born, Debbie and I still felt we should have another baby so we stopped preventing to see what would happen. For more than a year, nothing happened and we were puzzled since our younger three boys were conceived so quickly.  In the meantime we found out that Debbie has celiac disease in September 2014 so we removed all gluten from her diet.  In April 2015 she was a couple days late, but we (I) weren't too worried and didn't think she was really pregnant.  One evening Debbie woke up with severe chest pain, so I took her to the emergency room.  (If you ever need quick ER service, develop chest pain).  They ran some tests and found that her heart was fine, and before doing a cat-scan of her chest, they asked if she was pregnant.  We told them she was late, so they should check to be diligent.  They ran the blood test and surprise, we found out in the ER that Debbie was pregnant!

The first part of her pregnancy actually went pretty well.  She had some nausea, but never threw up throughout the entire pregnancy.  Considering she was sick for all of Tanner's pregnancy that was pretty miraculous.  Throughout the pregnancy Debbie's biggest hinderance was her degenerated pubic bone which gave her a lot of pain when she walked.  For example she was well enough for us to have a great vacation to the Oregon coast, but she couldn't really handle the instability of the sand.  

Earlier in the summer I was originally planning on two straight weeks of work trips in September, one in Washington DC and another in Nashville.  In August both of those were cancelled due to budget restraints, but I wasn't too sad about that.  I became very grateful they were cut once September rolled around and Debbie began to have contractions.  I remember laying in bed with her one night as she felt her stomach thinking aloud "Should it be this tight?  I think I am having a contraction."  Finally late Sunday night we called the Dr. to see how worried we should be and he told us to come down to the triage labor delivery.  After some checks and tests we were told that Debbie needed to follow strict bed rest until 36 weeks.  This started the most challenging portion of any of the pregnancies Debbie had. 

With a lot of help from a lot of family, friends, and ward members we made it to Thanksgiving without having a pre-term baby.  Although Debbie's bed rest was over she still had a lot of difficulty walking.  Throughout this month Debbie felt the baby move around a lot in the womb.  The doctor even said that she was breach at one appointment, but when it was time to flip her she was head down again.  

Finally the weekend of her delivery arrived.  On Friday night, Debbie lost her mucus plug, but throughout Saturday she continued to leak fluid.  After checking with the doctor we came down to labor and delivery at midnight and got home again at 3:45.  On Sunday we got some rest, and then Monday morning we were able to go in to be induced.

Things with the delivery started off rather normal, Debbie continued to have mild contractions as the IV, antibiotic, and oxytocin started.  Around 12:30 her contractions became more intense and even more so after her water broke.  We asked for an epidural and thankfully didn't have to wait too long for it.  While Debbie was being hooked up the anesthesiologist received three more phone calls from women who wanted their epidural.  That was started and quickly eased Debbie's pains by about 2:30.  When the epidural was started Debbie had progressed to about 3cm.  We had a few hours of waiting while Debbie continued to track without much action.  We appreciated having a good nurse who was only responsible for us that day.  At 5pm we were curious to see if Debbie had progressed, but she was only 5cm.  The contractions continued, but the epidural began to wear off and Debbie was feeling more and more pain.  At 6:20 as shift change neared, the nurse checked and Debbie was in transition, the baby was finally there.  Debbie "patiently" tried not to push as we waited for the doctor to arrive and the NICU nurses to also arrive. Throughout labor the baby's heart rate dropped with each contraction which is somewhat normal.  However as it was time to deliver we lost her heart rate a couple times in the monitor.  The doctor was suited up, but he was started to get worried about the heart rate and had Debbie start pushing before NICU could get there to suction out the meconium.  As Debbie was pushing the baby's heart rate kept dropping so the doctor became very aggressive with getting the baby out and shortly after her head was out.  At that point the doctor quickly realized that the cord was wrapped four times around her neck.  He unwrapped in time and then found a knot also tied in the umbilical cord.  He commented that he had never seen a cord wrapped four times around the baby's neck and with a knot.  Debbie and I were both overwhelmed and grateful that she was delivered safely in that situation and that nothing else went wrong.  She was born at 6:43 pm, weighed 7lb 1 oz, 20.5in long, and had a 14in head circumference.

After we got things mostly cleaned up we brought in our boys to meet Jozie.  They were so excited and did so well at holding her and looking at her.  Our parents also came in as the nurse gave Jozie her initial assessment.  It was something they didn't get to see with our other children so it was fun to share with them.  

Now a day later, it is still amazing to look at the miracles and tender mercies we experienced with Jozie's birth.  Things have been pretty normal with her today, but it will be interesting to see what other drama and excitement she brings to our family.

   

Baby Pictures

I thought it would be fun to put together a baby picture from each of the boys and Jozie to see some similarities and differences.

Tanner


Clayton


Austin


Quentin


Jozie

Kids + Camera + Toys

Last month the boys went on a kick where they wanted to take pictures of their creations.  This was especially true with Lincoln Logs and Tinker Toys since the creations don't have a long lifecycle.  Here are some of the best pictures they took during play time. 

1st Day of School

Now that the first quarter is nearly over and the boys are already getting their report cards it is time to finally show off their 1st day of school pictures.

This is also a great time to document Tanner's broken arm.  He fell while riding a scooter in the driveway and broke both of the bones in his arm.  He was lucky and got a removable cast that he could take off periodically to shower and clean his arm.  He had to wear the cast for about 6 weeks, and is now all healed up and skating around the neighborhood pushing his luck.

HerSHEy

We made this video nearly a month ago. . . .

Oregon Lighthouses

On our trip to the coast, we decided to try and see as many lighthouses as possible along our way.  We did not try to see every lighthouse along the coast because we didn't want to drive the entire length of Oregon.  Visiting the lighthouses was a nice way to take a break from the car and do some exploring.

Here is the list of them from North to South
Tillamook Rock
Cape Mears
Yaquina Head
Yaquina Bay
Heceta Head

TILLAMOOK ROCK

Tillamook rock lighthouse is near Cannon Beach, and there is a state park with an overlook on a cliff where you can look out over Cannon Beach to one side and the lighthouse on the other side.

 The boys getting ready to look at Cannon Beach.

 Cannon Beach

 Tillamook Rock Light

CAPE MEARES

 For some reason I love pictures of the boys looking out over a fence.  Whether it is a cliff over the ocean or over a waterfall or anything.  I don't know if it is because I know they have stopped to observe and look at something new and interesting or that they are contemplating what is really down there.  It looks like they are having really deep thoughts, when they are probably actually wondering if they could spit from the fence to the ocean.

The better side of Austin at Cape Meares

Can you guess who the four silhouettes are?  Who knew lighthouses were so exciting?

Cape Meares is a short and stubby lighthouse compared to what I would consider a traditional light house.  

The path is actually at the height of the light until the very end when it takes a couple switchbacks down to the level of the light, it made for a pretty cool picture of the boys. 

YAQUINA HEAD

 Speaking of traditional lighthouses.  Yaquina head looks pretty typical. The park also has tours that take you through the house and up to the light.  We didn't know that it required tickets and planning ahead to get inside, so we just took pictures at the front of it.  This was a pretty rough day, since Clayton, Tanner, and I had gotten up at 5-ish for fishing and were all pretty tired.  The other boys were a little burned out on pictures in front of lighthouses so I got Clayton.

On the fishing trip we passed by Yaquina head and after many attempts on a moving boat to get a straight picture, I got this one. 

YAQUINA BAY

This is the only lighthouse we were able to get into, the rest either didn't have tours or we were too late to get in.  So we learned that this lighthouse was in service for only 3 years before it was replaced by Yaquina Head.  Also, in the early 1900's the town must have thought it was an eyesore or a waste of land it was nearly torn down. But eventually it was saved as a piece of history.  The bottom house has been set up to look like the late 1800's.

 Another lighthouse we saw on our way back from the fishing trip.

HECETA HEAD

This lighthouse is the one I wanted to see the most.  Mainly because I like how it looks perched up on its overlook.  It is also on the edge of the bay, so as the road wraps around the bay it is an amazing thing to see. 

 Another family lighthouse picture

 We were too late for the tour of this lighthouse, but that was ok because we hit the area at low tide.  Fortunately there were enough rocks to explore and find little creatures.

 Tanner won the prize for the best find with this starfish.

 Quentin and Austing looking at and touching the many green sea anemones.

Family picture in the bay for Heceta head with the bridge for the highway in the background.

Monday: Exploring along the coast

On Monday, we left Portland/Vancouver to head to the beach house.  We drove down the Columbia to Astoria and stopped to take a little break.  We then drove down to Tillamook Head and Haystack rock.  The park for Tillamook head was beautiful and lush, and haystack rock was impressively large.  We continued from there to the Tillamook cheese factory and then along the coast eventually to our beach house in Waldport.  We arrived in Waldport just as the sun was setting, so we parked by the beach and ran to the shore to watch the sun melt into the ocean.  The video is of the boys getting to the ocean for the first time after spending all day in the car.

Outside the Astoria Maritime museum

The road in the Tillamook head park

 Haystack Rock at Cannon Beach

 Overlooking Haystack Rock

 Cheese factory after enjoying yummy ice cream cones

Finally! At the beach a great reward for a day spent in the car

Happy Father's Day

I have been a father for 15 years, and I have had many great father's days.  Today I had one of those "proud dad" moments.  June is my month to conduct Sacrament Meeting and to select speakers during the month.  Last week I asked Tanner to talk in Sacrament meeting.  I don't think it was much of a surprise for him since I have been threatening the opportunity to speak for a few months now.  Anyways last Sunday I asked him  to speak, gave him his topic and he started researching things he should say.  I gave him one reference, Elder Bednar's talk on youth and family history.  On his own, or with Debbie's help he looked up another 5-6 references, wrote down his own experience of going to the temple that Debbie coordinated with him and some friends and created a nice 5 minute talk.  He delivered it pretty well and I was so impressed watching him talk today.  He did a great job.

I would also like to post some of my Father's type pictures as a memory to why I appreciate the opportunity to be a father.

Fathers and Sons at home

The first full week of summer has been quite exciting for all of us.  I started it off by leaving the country for the week and going to Toronto.  The weather warmed up so Debbie took advantage of it and took the boys to Roaring Springs on Thursday and had a great time.  She even ran into the family of the coworker I was with on the trip.

My return flight was scheduled to leave Toronto at 8:15 am and arrive in Boise around 1pm.  When we arrived in Toronto on Monday, the airport PA system reminded all passengers to arrive 3 hours early for their departing flights in order to clear immigration before getting on the plane.  This meant we had to leave the hotel at 4:30 to make it to the airport by 5:15 and by 4:30 I mean 2:30am mountain time.  

We stayed on schedule and got to the airport around 5, through check in, immigration, and security, and still had 1 1/2 hours to spare so maybe we were too early.  But that is much better than too late.  Anyways, when I landed in Denver and talked to Debbie we decided that we would change from Fathers and sons with our ward to Fathers and sons at home.  Our ward's activity was about 2 1/2 hours away so it would have been a little intense for me to land, pack up, and drive into he mountains for a couple hours.  The boys were also excited about the idea, so we got some candy, pop, licorice straws, grilled hot dogs over the fire, watched a movie, and slept in the tent in the back yard.  In the morning we went to the bike park for a little BMX.  It was a lot of fun and a great time together.  

The fortune I got from Panda in Oshawa, I thought it was fitting to get that a few thousand miles away from home.  

Oshawa is where we actually worked, and it is on Lake Ontario.  It took a couple failed attempts to find the lake but we made it eventually

I put together this little movie to show their great biking skills

Fathers and Sons BMX

School's Out

This video is Quentin celebrating his kindergarten graduation.  I am not sure where he learned those moves, but I still think he is mine.

Quentin's Video

Our boys were well decorated at the year end assembly, and each boy earned a certificate or two.

On the last week of school most of the hard work was finished so the boys got to play a few games in their classrooms.  Clayton says that they all had fun.  Austin said it was awesome because he got Pop Rocks, Hershey candies, and some big blue dice.  Quentin said it was awesome because he got his two awards.