Section D: Children Part 2

Tarah was a great baby. She did the normal amount of crying, teeth, crying, holding on to items and pulling herself up and walking. She was happy. Lots of laughs and funny faces. She did not have a normal baby situation because we were living in a hotel room with Candy/Steve/Tanya/Steven. She loved her cousins. The kids made her laugh a lot. Was cute to watch the 3 of them. I did not get enough of that. She had a small snoopy that she held onto all of the time. Only about 2-3 inches high. I slept with her blanket for weeks. Lorraine finally asked if I would wash it one day. It smelt like formula/baby throw up I am sure. I just thought it smelt like her so I resisted for a while. Then I finally did.


Christina was a quiet baby. From 3 days old she slept 12 hours straight. She would lay in the bassinet in the morning and just wait for us to come get her. The only time that Christina would cry was when we undressed her for her bath. When we did you would think that world war 3 had broken out. The minute she was dressed, all was quiet again. Was cute. Another thing that bothered her was any dirt or any thing that got her dirty. She would get one speck on her finger and freak out. Which is one reason she was so easy to potty train. She hated a mess. By contrast, once she hit about 6-7 she would roll in the biggest, muddiest, puddle and from head to toe be dirty and smiling. She also became quite vocal. I have a list of times that she should have been hurt/deformed/injured/or dead. I have no idea what she has in store for her, what she is supposed to do on this earth, but it is something extraordinary. She is still a good kid/woman.


Kimberly was also quiet. She was such a good baby. When she was 4-5 months old she seemed like she was getting sick. She slept well, she was a good girl but she was eating less and did less laughing. We took her to a couple of doctors and they would ask how she was sleeping etc. Then they would look at her eyes, huge brown eyes so dark you could not even see the pupils. They would tell us we were lucky she slept and send us home. At 6 months we went to the free clinic for shots and they asked us questions. When I told them my frustrations they said they agreed with me. She was 9 pounds 3 ounces at birth and at 6 months she was only 10.2 (what Chrissy weighed at birth). They suggested we just go straight to the emergency room and wait until they helped. We took her advice, went to the ER and sat there and told them we would not leave until they helped. We were there all night. They finally asked us if we would leave if we could see a specialist in the morning. We agreed. We met with the specialist and after an extremely long appointment he took Donovan aside and told him to prepare me, that she had a 90% chance of not making it. We went back every day for about 2 weeks. She lost ounces everyday. Her stomach was concave. The skin on her arms and legs was loose. She was a baby and disappearing. We held her 24 hours a day, she was never left alone. She slept with us, ate in our lap etc. The specialist changed the food/medicine everyday. After a couple of weeks she gained 1 ounce!! We had some family friends come over and give Kimberly a blessing. The blessing said that she would grow up to live a full life. The next day I took her to the doctors and instead of crying I asked what we were doing today...She improved from that day on. We just adjusted until it was ok. About age 4 she was getting kidney infections. After testing they realized that the tube between her kidney and bladder had not fully developed. They put her on medicine which I found tucked into the couch cushions! Just as stubborn and resistant then as now lol. We would also take her on dates, and get her a treat, and she would refuse to eat them until she shared with her sisters. We would explain that they got a treat when they went out on their date but it did not matter, she refused to eat until she shared. Again, huge heart then as now!!


Ashley, oh my Ashley. How do you describe this child her first few years??? YIKES!!! LOL
As described on part 1, she cried the first 12 hours, and basically the first 6 or so years. She would scream bloody murder if she saw a dog 12 houses away, and YES, she did spot them (just ask the neighbors!) We would take her out of sacrament meeting kicking and screaming at a level that made everyone know that I had pinched her. Stores and anywhere quiet, was quiet no more once we arrived. Tables, walls, tables, no matter what was in her path her head would slam into it. I was instructed by Dr. Cory to ensure she had been given everything needed and shut her door at night. I would sit in the hall and cry, I hated hearing her scream. I just needed sleep, so I finally tried to walk away and sleep while she was in her crib. We asked if she needed tests to see what was wrong, but it was decided to wait a while. We did and she grew out of it. Not sure how or why, but it was welcomed. She then was quiet, so quiet. A great kid, who stayed under the radar. She would be asked to clean the room and we thought she did a bang up job until we found it all under items in her room lol. Ash is a good kid. I did not think she was a good kid because she wanted to be, which scared me. She seems like she is really getting back into what she loves - medical surgical etc. - and I pray she keeps on track with that. She is a great lady.


Amanda came along into a house that was so dysfunctional that it was scary. She was a good baby though. Another fun baby, very happy. She was a welcomed distraction for all of us, the girls especially. They would wait on her hand and foot. I finally had to put my foot down and tell them to let her actually ask before getting her things or she would never learn to talk or walk. I fear that once she was in school she was forgotten. I was room mother in kindergarten and we spent a ton of time together. She was my buddy, which was unlike the others. It was noticed. After kindergarten she was encouraged to not spend time with me, and we lost track of each other in the struggle. Once she hit 8 it got intense/division was severe and irreparable apparently. The more time went on the worse it got.
I hear she has a job and is doing well with her boyfriend. I pray, she is doing better than she ever expected.