Graduate School....The Continuing Story

When I posted about Curtis going to graduate school in 2010, I stated that we hadn't felt right about it until that point in time.  We had pondered and prayed, considered different avenues, but until 2010 we did not feel right about it.  In 2010, everything fell into place.  Curtis applied to BYU and was accepted into the program.  It is through this journey that I have been able to see the absolute wisdom of God if we will be humble and do things according to His will and timing.

The first thing that was amazing is that all of his tuition, except for the first term, was covered through scholarships thanks to the generosity of donors.  We did not incur any excessive debt in returning back to school for a Master's Degree and he was able to work at the same time, and thus bring in needed income.  Does Heavenly Father care about that?  I think that the answer is that he absolutely does care about our financial health.

Curtis had some amazing professors at BYU, who were able to teach what the research is telling in how to be a successful music teacher.  If you get that education while going back to school, the time and effort spent is absolutely worth it.  In fact, Curtis says, everyone should go back to school in their late 30's!  It helps you to see and learn things in a way that you don't in your 20's.

Because of the experiences that Curtis has had in teaching before he got his Master's Degree, he was able to come up with a terrific and applicable Personal Improvement Project.  Namely, how do you really teach kids how to improvise in jazz band?  The National Standards for Music Education say that this is a responsibility that music teachers have, but few music teachers can improvise themselves and even fewer can teach improvisation.  In fact, one of his colleagues stated, "I don't have time to teach improvisation in jazz band, it's something they need to learn in private lessons."  However, what if you teach in a Title I school and those kids' only music instruction is coming from you?  So Curtis set out to create a method that will make it easy to teach kids how to improvise in jazz band.  And different from other methods, this one is research based and tested.

About halfway through our Master's Degree journey, Curtis stated that he wanted to apply for a Graduate Fellowship Grant.....in fact, he felt like he should apply.  I balked at this, since it would mean even more work, but he promised that if he didn't get awarded that he would pare down the Master's Project so it didn't take more time.  I went along with that and he applied.  We waited and waited.  And then we got the news that Curtis had been awarded....$15,000, the maximum award that is given out.  Suffice it to say, music students generally don't get this amount.  We were thrilled and again felt that there was a reason why we had been told to wait to attend Graduate School until this time.

Curtis has been able to do wonderful things with the grant money.  He is nearing the end of doing his work on Improv Pathways which may bring additional income opportunities for us.  He was able to do incredible recordings of his work with the Crescent Super Band, which is a Grammy Award winning student jazz band in our area.  He is continually testing and refining the method and has been able to compose some great songs to go with it that actually teach kids the art of jazz and improvisation in the classroom.

In the end, we feel very blessed, and it has been one of those faith-inducing experiences where you see why you were told to wait all those years, when it seemed more logical to just go ahead and get it over with.  It will be one of the stories that we tell our children and grandchildren through the years about the wisdom of God.

P.S. If you want to get a taste of what Curtis is doing go to www.improvpathways.com

To Blog, or Not to Blog...that is the Question!

I haven't written on the blog for a while, but after someone in my ward did a wonderful post about her birth story with her baby, I felt like it had been awhile since I've really shared anything with anybody.

When I analyze, why that is, I have two reasons why maybe I don't share outside my family.

1) When I was 11, we lived in a small town and my mom homeschooled us, which marked us as weird and crazy for that reason alone.  Then she gave a Homemaking lesson about the Word of Wisdom and how she had been able to lesson the severity of illness through natural remedies.  Within 24 hours and on my 12th birthday, DCFS was on our doorstep with charges of neglect and child abuse.  Even after it was evident that we were in no way neglected or abused, they continued to harass us, until my mom told the caseworker that she knew that it was because someone was offended by her Homemaking lesson and had decided to sic them on us as a result.  Finally, after months of terrorizing our family, they stopped harassing us, but that extremely traumatic experience in my youth has led me to be more careful and less open about myself to the general public.  On the other hand, I am a very open person and it does make me happy to be able to share opinions and thoughts on a wide variety of subjects, so I should probably work on this.

2)  I don't want to offend people.  Too many people have the idea that "if you don't do things my way, you must think that I am wrong".  They get offended and don't want to be friends because they think that if I make different choices that I am judging their choices as being inferior, wrong, etc.  I had someone who visit taught me who definitely felt threatened by my choice to homeschool my children.  I tried to explain to her over and over that I did not feel that my choices were right for everyone, that everyone is different and is free to do what is best for themselves and their family, and that one choice that is right for one person is not necessarily right for someone else.  Aside from the moral choices of right and wrong, I really do feel this way!  I do not judge other people for doing things differently than I do them.  We are all different.  So, if I do something one way, it is not my statement that everyone else should be doing it too!

So, I think I am going to start blogging again......and hopefully, the real me will shine through.

Presenting Audrey Christina

My sister Elizabeth was married two weeks ago, and I saw my cousin Mary where she told me that I really needed to update my blog! So, I thought that I would post some pictures of our newest member, compliments of one of my best friends Rachel. Audrey was due on Brianna's due date, but Brianna was the latecomer out of all my children at 5 days early.
Since I started having strong braxton hicks contractions at 35 weeks, I was sure that she would be one of my earlier arrivals, but 38 weeks came and went. The night before Brianna's birthday, I started having more contractions but
I'd had them the whole week and again, they stopped. On Brianna's birthday, we woke up early and Curtis made a special breakfast for Brianna and we had breakfast. I started getting contractions and noticed that they were getting longer and stronger, so I just mentioned to Curtis before he left for work that I would give him a call if they kept going that way.
Well, they did keep getting stronger and longer so I gave him a call and told him to start working on a substitute and come home. I didn't want to be calling him in a panic telling him he had to get home right now so that we could go to the hospital. Meanwhile, the addresses for my sister's wedding weren't completely put into the database for labels, so I was getting the last of them entered in. I told my Mom that once that was done, then I could feel like I could go to the hospital. Curtis got home, and I sent him to the mall with Brianna so that she could get a free build-a-bear, with a birthday coupon that she had, and told him to go with her to pick out some earrings at Claire's. I wanted her birthday to be special, even if Mom was in labor! We went into the hospital at about 2:30 and I was about 4.5 cm dilated. Since I was group B strep positive this time, they started the iv antibiotics and told me that if I started flushing, it was a known side-effect and not an allergic reaction. What they didn't mention was the swelling and intense itching! I could barely get my wedding ring off, and it was cutting off my circulation, I swelled so fast. They told me that they could give me Benadryl for the horrible itching, but I told them, I would see if the itching would decrease and then I tried really hard not to itch. I'm happy to say that the itching did go away! My midwife got there two hours later due to an office visit that she had to take her time on....and I was convinced I must only be a 5 since the labor was not that intense, but, I was dilated to a 7! At an 8, I decided to go ahead and break the water at which time, I made both Curtis and Claudia, my midwife, work really hard for me! Curtis would push on my back and Claudia, my midwife was pushing on my knees. Before I knew it we were in the pushing phase, and thanks to Claudia with great directions, I didn't tear at all, and didn't need any stitches, even though she was born completely posterior (which make their heads a lot bigger, due to the face-up position). She was born at 7:02 pm and weighed 7 lb. 14 oz. and was 19.5 inches long. She looks like a mix of Jeffrey and Brianna.

We got to have her with us for about 1 1/2 hours before she went to the nursery, and that's where we hit a few road bumps. The nurses noticed that she was really red and so they did a quick check on her hemoglobin levels, which came back quite high. Then they pulled a hematocrit count and it came back high. Basically, she had too many red blood cells and they get concerned about their oxygen levels because when their blood is to "thick" it doesn't carry oxygen as efficiently. Sometimes, she was dropping into the 80's in her oxygen saturation and so they put in an iv and put saline into her blood to thin it out. The saline didn't bring up her oxygen levels where they wanted them to be, so the pediatrician performed what they call "reduction." Basically, they pulled blood out through the umbilical cord vein and replaced it with saline. After they did that, they put her on iv antibiotics for 48 hrs. and she had to be in the newborn special care nursery.
I was really sad that I couldn't have her with me so I spent a lot of time in a rocking chair in the nursery. They were really great though. All of Audrey's nurses were so nice and wonderful. I gave them explicit instructions that I didn't want her to cry and that I wanted them to call me no matter what time of night, and I'm glad to say that they followed my wishes instead of thinking that I didn't know what I wanted!

She was discharged at 1:30 am in the morning after I was discharged at 7 pm. The nurses looked at my chart and said it looks like we're discharging you to the parent's waiting room? The pediatrician thought I was crazy when I said that we would be taking her home at 1 am if he would discharge her, but I explained that I was stuck at the hospital anyway due to nursing, when he asked wouldn't I rather go home and get a good night's rest?

Her bilirubin was in the moderate risk level, which didn't surprise me since her red blood cells were too high. She went on the bilirubin blanket and that seemed like it was forever. It was fifteen days to be exact that we were literally plugged in to a wall. Our bedroom had an eerie, alien-like glow from the neon blue light! Audrey was so excited to be off the lights when my cousin and one of my best friends took newborn photos that she was awake most the time.

The first two weeks have been very long due to all that but we are loving having a new baby in our family again.

BYU....Here we Come....Again

Well....the time has finally come....to get a master's degree. Basically, we knew that we would need to do this ever since Curtis started teaching since you will not get any raises past a certain time, unless you have a master's. We have thought about it and prayed about it for several years, but until this year, we didn't receive that confirmation to move ahead. This past year, we both felt like Curtis should go ahead and apply to get into the Master's Program in Music Ed at BYU, so Curtis moved ahead preparing an excellent application. I think that he put about 80-90 hours into it.....and practiced his head off on the trombone for the two styles of performance that he had to provide. Anyway, the application was due January 30, and we were supposed to hear in about a month. So we waited, and waited, and waited. Finally, Curtis emailed a professor and asked about the time line this year. The professor responded that they had so many applicants this year that it was taking longer than usual to go through all the applications. He said we might hear the first to the middle of April. Then Curtis got an email that said they were meeting and making their decisions on the 23rd of March and so we should hear by the beginning of April. Yesterday, Curtis checked the email that he had on file for his application, and lo and behold there was an email telling him that he had been accepted and that he could go ahead and register for classes! Curtis can actually do this summer terms. At that rate it will take about 4 years, but we won't have the financial worries of having to take a sabbatical right away (since school districts are really stingy about that in this current economic climate) and figure out how much in student loans we have to pull out. If it works out, we might take a sabbatical toward the end to finish it up more quickly.... Also, for getting a master's, BYU is one of the cheapest around. We feel really blessed to be accepted, especially after we knew how many applicants there were this year.....and BYU is not known for being generous as we all know, in the amount of people accepted into their programs. Congratulations Curtis!

Cameron's Dental Surgery

For those of you who know our family well, you know of our pediatric dental woes. We floss, we brush, alas it seems to no avail! Of course, if we neglected the flossing and brushing and swishing....our situation would probably be a lot worse, but I really hate it when they start asking at the dentist office if my children live off of fruit snacks and go to bed with bottles of juice or soda pop!
Unfortunately, it is true that many, if not most, pediatric dental patients are usually in lower socioeconomic situations, so when you find yourself in that situation the automatic assumption is that it is probably due to poor dental hygiene, and a lack of knowledge of correct and healthy eating/bottling methods. Anyway, I got to go down that lane of roses just recently again with Cameron.
When his eye teeth came in, they already had enamel deformation on them, so I knew that we would have to watch carefully. Anyway, one of those eye teeth started to decay and so sigh, I had to take him in. Thank goodness after some very frustrating moments with one "pediatric" dental office, (by the way the pediatric dentist isn't covered by your insurance, even though we say that we have a pediatric dentist that is on the insurance website!) I called around and found a pediatric dental office on our insurance (he really was!) and decided to give them a try. They were fantastic and for the first time, after the dentist and I talked about Cameron, and he asked if I had a dental background (no, and yes, thanks to my children!) he told me that Cameron definitely had enamel deficiencies that were unfortunately genetic. Finally! I was not the irresponsible mother! Anyway, the office was fantastic. They got the sedation approved through my medical insurance and so last week we made our trek to the surgery center to get it done.
As a side note, I have to say that the surgery center was fantastic. It's one of those market driven approaches and it was ten times better than the same day surgery center at the hospital when Jeffrey had to have extensive work done. We were called the day before and told that gasp, we had to be there at 5 am. Actually, that was a blessing in disguise because Cameron was soundly asleep and stayed that way until we were taken back. We were able to dress him in his gown and then we waited in a little waiting room where we met the nurse that would be attending, the anesthesiologist, and the dentist. Then we carried him down the hall, where we made a quick switch off near the door. At that moment he started to cry, but he probably didn't cry more than a minute before they knocked him out with a mask. We waited for about an hour, and the nurse came to get us as soon as he started to stir. (Jeffrey cried for we don't know how long, before they came to get us. He was fully awake and sitting up in the bed.) With Cameron, we were able to hold him as he came out of it and then he just went to sleep for a while. There was no emotional trauma at all and thanks to the amnesia effect that the anesthesia has, he probably doesn't remember the hand off right before the procedure. The dentist told us that when he sees kids with the same kind of enamel that Cameron has, he has to do extensive crowning, but that the cavities that he had were not very deep (still, there were 8) and that he only had to crown two teeth to try to prevent decay occurring over and over again on the same teeth. Coincidentally, or not, Brianna finally had to have those same teeth crowned after filling after filling on those same teeth. He told us that we were doing a great job. Ah, it was so nice to hear! I usually feel like a bad mother after dental visits!
Anyway, we got Cameron home after buying him a toy car and getting a free balloon at Macey's and he took a nice long nap. He woke up in Curtis' words "as a happy drunk". It was kind of funny to watch, actually.
Thanks to a wonderful surgery center we have no trauma on Cameron's part from the experience and thanks to a dentist who realizes Cameron's root issues, we don't have any trauma or guilt. Of course that doesn't mean that we will stop brushing...and flossing....and swishing!
On a positive note, our older children do have wonderful dental hygiene habits!

I saw a friend in Costco, who told me that I really needed to get on the ball and update my blog....so I thought for those of you who don't see me on a regular basis might not know that we are expecting #5! Frankly, I wasn't sure that I was ready, so Heavenly Father decided to give me a little stronger revelation about adding this little one to our family. We are having another girl and what is funny is that Curtis basically knew from the onset that it would be a girl. Even before the ultrasound, he was pretty sure of that fact. He says it was like his mission. People would ask where he wanted to go, and of course in the early 90's Russia was the cool place to go on a mission, since the iron curtain had just fallen. He would tell them, "I'd like to go to Russia, but I really think that I'll be going to the southern United States." Anyway, it was no surprise for him when he was called to Columbia, South Carolina. So, when we had the ultrasound and it was time for the revelation, Curtis goes, yep, it's a girl, just like I thought. I thought it was most likely going to be a girl as well, but wasn't as sure of the fact as Curtis.
After the ultrasound, we went to Los Hermanos in Lindon with the kids. As we were finishing up, they came and seated Curtis' uncle and aunt Merv and Devonna Arnold. We haven't seen them much because they have been on church assignment to Brazil for the 2nd Quorum of the Seventy, but he was just called to the 1st Quorum and they are in Salt Lake for the time being. It was a pretty small world to run into them there!
Anyway, all of this is a bit belated. We are about five weeks away from D-Day at this point. We'll see when she decides to come. My sister Elizabeth and future brother in law Wil, were kind enough to set their wedding date for mid-May. They also have bets based on last babies' arrivals on the day that she will make her debut. The closest day wins ice cream!

Overheard: Sabrina was singing I'm Trying to Be Like Jesus, but this is how it went: I'm trying to be like Jesus....but I can't. Especially when you have a little brother that you love/hate!