The Ghost Light

For the past hour and a half a LAPD helicopter has been flying over our house.... with its search light on.  At one point over the loud speaker the police said "Put your weapons down and come out with your hands up."

  
Am I annoyed by the sound of the helicopter....yes
Does it concern me that there has been a LAPD helicopter overhead...yes
Does this seam like what happens on tv...yes
Do I live near LA...yes
Should I get used to this....? 
Am I going to get abducted tonight... we will see
Are the pilots of the helicopter getting dizzy... the must be

2 Months

Here are some of the latest pictures for all of those Isaac fans out there:

Isaac was blessed in Utah, Grandma Sharlan made him this dapper vest and pants complete with bow tie

He smiles

First dip in the pool

Isaac spends most his day in the burrito sleeping, it is so adorable

First dip in the Ocean (San Clemente, CA)

Lucille's wedding day

Naked Baby

Butterflies

Tonight I started to get butterflies in my stomach, butterflies because I know that my life is about to change.  I distinctly remember the start of every school year I would have a hard time sleeping as I would anticipate the start of a great new yea. Well school will soon start again and this will be my first year that I won't need to buy new binders, papers, and a lucky pen.  I won't be needing a new outfit laid out, or a school schedule.  Tomorrow Enoch's starts work and my career as a mother will be solidified as I stay home alone with my beautiful baby.  I have loved having a best friend around to talk with throughout the day, to pass Isaac off to after I feed him, to go on walks with, and to admire Isaac's with.  

It has been a mixed blessing that Enoch broke his clavicle, while it was disappointing that he couldn't start work in late June, having Enoch home has made the transition to being a mom so much easier and has allowed him to spend time with Isaac- time that would have been much more limited.  

I am trying not to think about it too much, but Enoch will soon join the working world working each for the next...several decades.    Millions of people do this each day, but it is concept that I am not familiar with.  It means that we are finally growing up- Do I want to grown up?

Introducing Isaac

On July 1st we welcomed Isaac Mills to our family and so our tutorial of Godhood begins.  I can't wait to see what new adventures will be ours, the three of us

Birthday, Broken Clavicle, No Birth

This is a tale about a bike, a birthday, a broken clavicle, two ambulance rides, 3 hospitals, a healthy baby, and ultimately a happy ending.

• Yesterday was Enoch's 28th birthday, to start the day Enoch mapped out a 30 mile bike ride that included a loop from our house, up Mulhulland Drive, and back so at  6:30am Enoch left to start his adventure.  
• While riding down Mulhulland Hill Enoch slipped on some steel plates covering construction in the road and fell off his bike.  He doesn't remember a whole lot about the fall but remembers crawling off the road after he fell.  
• I received a call at 7:30 from an unknown number with Enoch telling me that he needed me to come and pick him up because he had fallen.  I threw on some clothes, brushed my teeth, grabbed a piece of bread, and headed to go find Enoch when
• I got another call from the kind man who saw Enoch fall while on his morning walk telling me that that an ambulance had come and they were transporting him to the Sherman Oaks Hospital.  
• Luckily the 10 and 405 Freeways were really clear and before long I was at the Hospital filling out paper work, calling my mom to tell her the story, waiting for the x-rays to be finished so I could see E, and preparing myself to be the responsible wife to take good care of her hurt husband.



I promise it looks worse then it was

• Poor Enoch was all banged up and in a neck brace with bandages all over him and his cracked helmet between his legs (so grateful for that helmet)








• The doctor was super friendly, chill, and quick.  Enoch's was fine but the xray showed that he had a non displaced distal fracture of his right clavicle and bruised ribs which he referred to as clinically broken.  All was well, we felt really blessed that the damage was minimal and Enoch would soon be discharged when...
• While they were cleaning Enoch's wounds I started feeling really light headed.  I was sitting so I tried to take some deep breaths and relax and the next thing I knew I was surrounded by nurses on a hospital bed, being barraged with questions such as what year was it, who our president was and the like, and receiving a liter of saline fluid.  Apparently I was a bit jealous of all of the attention Enoch was receiving and wanted some attention of my own so obviously fainting is the clearly the best choice in this situation.  
• Enoch first noticed that something was wrong with me and called my name when I didn't respond he called for me again and then starting calling for help.  Within seconds I was lifted up and conviently placed on the empty bed next to Enoch.  I wasn't out for more then 30 seconds; however, when they checked my blood pressure it had dropped to 70/ 40 (that's bad, by the way).  After a few more minutes the admitting women that I just was asking for my insurance card and id.  I called my mom laughing my head off to update her that I was now in the ER as well. 
• Not to be outdone by Enoch, I was transported in a shiny ambulance to Valley Presbertian Hospital where they had labor and delivery services to be checked out.  
• Poor Enoch with a sling on his right arm was left to fend for himself, find our car, and drive himself over to Valley Pres to now come to the aid of his perfectly fine and healthy wife at this point.  
• While at Valley Pres, a well meaning yet seriously dramatic nurse from Panama attended to me and insisted I don't talk to much and shouldn't be jousted because of my fragile situation all the while Enoch is sitting in complete pain on a hospital chair next to me.  When I fainted a shook a little bit and the nurse and doctor were concerned that I had a seizure.  I had some blood tests taken and was transferred to another room.
• It was in this room that the nurse was congradulting herself that she had gotten myself check into the hospital.  It was at that point that I that if she kept getting her way I wouldn't be leaving this hospital until the baby was out of me.  In no uncertain terms I told her that there was no way I was going to have stay here 24 hours nor was I going to be induced.  
• I called my OB and he was confident that I just fainted and was that all of the hype was not warranted so after the ultrasound and getting back my test results Enoch and I decided that we were getting out. 
• At this point our nurse started going off about how I was going against Medical advice (AMA) and was going to go home and what a big deal this was, she was really excited to explain all of this to her student with her and said AMA a dozen times.  We were quite the rebels leaving the hospital.



My collection of wristbands from the 2 hospitals

• At 4:00 Enoch and I left the hospital and headed home.  Enoch finally got a shower and was able to relax.  It felt so good to be home- we felt so victorious, we ordered Thai Food, watched Tin Tin and relaxed
• We called my Dr. again and told him the entire story and asked him what he wanted us to do because we weren't opposed to being induced if that what was needed.  He decided that we should go to Saint Johns that evening and be monitored for an hour and if everything looked good at that point we could go home.  
• Alma, Claudia, John, and Baby Emma came over and brought us a cake to celebrate Enoch's birthday.  It was so nice of them to come and help make the last few hours of Enoch's Birthday special.  Alma was also kind enough to give us blessings.



Blowing out the candles proved to be more then Enoch's bruised little ribs could handle

• After they left we grabbed our bags and went to our third hospital of the day; however at this point it seemed like we were walking into a 5 star resort.  The hospital was quite and calm, the nurses were expecting us, my nurse heard my story, looked up my labs, and assured me that she has seam multiple women shake when they faint and that I surely hadn't had a seizure.  After an hour of testing I was sent on my happy way confident that our little boy is still happy and healthy.

I am confident that Enoch 28th Birthday will not soon be forgotten, it will probably turn out to me the most expensive day of our lives (thankfully we have insurance so hopefully our portion isn't too bad) However, we feel extremely blessed to both be ok and that we didn't have to have the baby under those wild conditions.  In fact I hope this baby decided to wait a few weeks so Enoch's can use his right arm more. 

Enoch was going to start work this week, but it looks like he will be waiting a few more weeks, he takes his licensure exam in next week so it will all work out anyway

The aftermath

2 days later

3 days later

Pregnancy Post

Here is a post for all of you requesting to see my swollen abdomen...... pregnant self.  After learning how to bend differently, adjusting to a different wardrobe (whoever invented pulling pants up to heaven needs to be shot quickly) and and finally giving up running at the end of my second trimester- I haven't minded being pregnant all that much.  Although the anticipation of meeting my baby boy has been the driving force behind the "lets kick this kid out so I can put on socks normally" campaign.  

While I was taking my comprehensive exams I kept telling myself that I am actually quite fortunate to be pregnant because I can harness the power of 2 brains.  My classmates insist that my child is destined to be a genius and will definitely have a career in the health field.  He did attend class, take finals, and walk across the stage in commencement to receive a Masters degree- he can put that on his resume right?

18 Weeks

24 weeks

27 weeks

32 Weeks

34 weeks

37 weeks

Since this post is dedicated to all things pregnancy here are a few picture from my incredible baby shower thrown by my amazing friends, Wendy, Amanda, and Michelle from my ward.  I felt so incredibly loved surrounded by so many friends and was showered by so many generous gifts- this baby is already spoiled.

Here is the amazing Eric Carle quilt that the seriously talented Betty Anderson made

The Master Mills

Up to this point Enoch and I have collectively dedicated over 40 years of our lives in school to reach the status of Master Mills! In the end I can confidently say that it was totally worth it.  I would often day dream throughout our program of receiving our degrees together to keep me going and now that day has come. We look forward to all of the adventures and learning in our future and hope we can do some good with our brains.  

I am so grateful for supportive parents who encouraged us, set the example of education in our lives and softened the blow of Los Angeles living expenses.  I am also grateful for the California Grants and Scholarships we received.  If I have learned anything, from obtaining this degree I have learned that we are capable of a lot more then we think and that persistence, perseverance, and faith work miracles.

Here is our dedicated cheering section at the commencement ceremony

My parents earned supporters of the year for coming from Utah to attend all of the festivities.  We loved having them around and exploring LA and Orange County with them.
  (Enoch's parents were also able to participate via a live webcam of the event from their mission in Salt Lake)

Enoch's classmates at their award dinner