The Pollock Chronicles

The Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear, 10.30.01

2010-12-02T22:37:00.000-08:00

Hey there! Remember us? Yeah, we've been busy, sorry about that. To tide you over, here's a quick video from our trip to DC in October. We'll get the whole story up soon.

Daddy's Boy!

2010-05-12T14:52:00.000-07:00

So this last weekend Rick was out of town attending a conference for the Cholangiocarcinoma Foundation that he serves on. Stone was so excited because Rick was in Washington DC and was going to get to see the White House, Lincoln Memorial, and some other sites. All weekend Stone would ask if we had received any texts from "daddy" and was so excited whenever Rick would call or text us.

On Saturday evening we went to pick Rick up at the airport. Stone was so excited he could hardly stand it. As soon as Stone saw Rick, he jumped out of the car and ran to him. After a long hug, Stone pulled away and was trying to discreetly wipe his eyes. Rick said "buddy are you crying"...and then the flood gates opened and the tears started flowing. He said "daddy I just missed you so much." It was the sweetest thing I have EVER seen!

Rick is an amazing father and an incredible husband. Stone not only looks just like his dad, but he shares the same sense of humor and big heart. There isn't a day that goes by that I am not grateful for this amazing little family of mine!

"The Blanket"...

2010-01-16T14:28:00.000-08:00

Well if you ever need SHEER entertainment, come to one of Stone's games! This is Stone's first year doing Jr. Jazz Basketball. He absolutely loves it and has been having so much fun. His first practice he had no idea what he was doing but he had a huge smile on his face the entire time. It has been so much fun to watch him play.

The one concept that Stone quickly picked up on was defense...he can guard his man like no other. He quickly earned the nickname "The Blanket" and if you were to see him in a game you would understand why. It is so so funny! Even when it is offense...Stone is STILL guarding his man. We are quite sure that there are some little boys that will have nightmares about "the blanket". Last week the boy Stone was guarding actually ran into the neighboring court to escape him...of course Stone STILL followed him. Ahhh good times! You can't buy this kind of great entertainment.

Home Sweet Office...

2010-01-06T14:40:00.000-08:00

It has been a long time since I've actually posted to our blog. Working such long hours in SLC really took it out of me! I am finally working from home again which has been SO great. I still work as many hours, BUT I now get to see Stone off to school, I get comic relief during the day from Rick who works upstairs, and I can be here when Stoney gets home from school. Not to mention the fact that I get to do it all in my jammies:)

My entire office went virtual which was quite an undertaking. Everyone is now set up in their home offices. We've had a few glitches along the way, but all in all it has gone smoothly. It is so amazing what can be accomplished with technology!

Our basement has been transformed into an office suite. My office is in the main room and there is a separate copy room which is where the huge production copy machine resides. Yes...it has a room of its own and it needs it...it is ENORMOUS! It was a miracle that they got all 964 lbs of it down the stairs without serious injury! I am absolutely loving everything about my new office and feel so spoiled...thank you Clements Group!

Happy Holidays to U!

2009-12-25T00:00:00.000-08:00

Eight years ago today.

2009-10-30T07:45:00.000-07:00

So, eight years ago our little boy was born. He was due in February, but he just couldn't wait. At the time, we'd decided the best way to keep everyone in the loop was to start a blog. (but we didn't call it that, the term "blog" wasn't really mainstream yet.)

Here's the first entry . . .

10/30/01 (930 grams or 2 lbs. 0.8 oz.)

I made my grand entrance today at 1:14 p.m.. Dad saw my first pee, which I did just for him. Dad also caught me on video tape when mom saw me for the first time, (they rolled her right from recovery to the newborn intensive care unit where I was waiting to meet her). Mom couldn't believe how tiny I was and immediately asked if it was okay to touch me. My Apgar scores were 7 at one minute and an 8 at five minutes! (my "health" scores, out of a possible 10) I thought I should come out and impress everyone right away. Lots of family were at the hospital to welcome me including; Charlynn (Mom & Dad's neighbor and friend), Grandma Pollock, Grandpa Wells, Grandma Lay, Grandpa Wagner, Aunt Kelley, Aunt Stacie, and Aunt Marianne. Tonight, Mom and Dad's good friends, Charlynn, Kellen, Baby Samantha (she is due to arrive on January 3), Mom, and Dad all came to peek in on me. Of course they oooh'd and aahh'd over how cute and fuzzy I am. (I'm still covered in "Lanugo Hair," the hair that covers all baby's in the womb.)

12 Frames of Stone

2009-08-01T11:09:00.000-07:00

Okay. So this is a little artsy. It was for a video editing class! a FINE ARTS video editing class! So lemme alone! There isn't a section of video more than 12 frames (less than 1/2 a second,) long. It's a little snapshot into our lives in 2004.

(BTW, I got an A and this was featured as an Experimental Video at the Utah Film & Video Center's showcase, "Works")

Enjoy.

A reason to grab the video camera.

2009-05-31T14:09:00.000-07:00

Hey, remember us? :) Well we've been a bit busy now that Amy is the new "Associate Vice-President of Programs and Services" at the Clements Group. Way to go babe!

On Friday, Stone had to give his "Expert Report." As most of you know, I'm the photographer. I love to get my digital camera and go to town, taking lots of pictures whenever Stone is doing something.

But for this assignment, I had to grab the video camera, which is something I haven't done in months (or longer) and videotaped Stone's report. He did a great job and I will post that video soon.

But also on that videotape, I found this little gem. It's nothing spectacular, just an afternoon of Stone and I playing in the yard in August of 2006, about 2 weeks before we moved to Stansbury Park. One thing is for certain, I am definitely going to use the video camera more. :)

The Picture Says It ALL!

2009-03-15T17:21:00.001-07:00

Okay, so I was looking through some old albums that Rick brought in from the garage today and I came across this gem...LOL! It is my new favorite picture! He is probably going to kill me for posting it...but after the horrible week that I've had, I think he may just let me get away with it.

Love you Ricky Ticky!

ah, here's a blast from the past.

2009-03-13T20:08:00.000-07:00

Hey! It's not Amy it's Rick!! I wanted to put up my first post, but I didn't know what to write about. Today on Facebook, a friend of mine posted a link to "www.fmylife.com," (probably NSFW.) If you haven't been there or heard of it, it's a collection of horrible little anecdotes that people have experienced. Most are funny, some are sad and I think a lot are just made up. This gave me inspiration for my first Pollock Chronicles blog post!

So, I present my little moment . . .

Thursday, April 14, 2005

So Amy, Stone and I are driving home after getting a little takeout. We turn onto our road when we see this big black dog running around sniffing everything. No biggie, it was in the field far from the road, but I always get a little worried when I don’t see an owner around.

We get to the house and my new neighbor is on her driveway, yelling "Sadie! Sadie!!" I say, "Oh, she's . . ." then I realized it might not be her dog and I ask "Is she big and black?" and my neighbor looks at me like I’m absolutely crazy and says, "my daughter?"

Yeah, that’s right. She was yelling for her daughter, who I would guess is NOT big nor black.

Thank you. Thank you very much. The End.

Bribery...There's No Other Word for It!

2009-03-06T14:39:00.001-08:00

So anyone who knows Stone knows that he DOES NOT lack energy! He is our outgoing, happy, social little boy.

His outgoing nature extends to the classroom as well...if you catch my drift. We noticed that on Stone's last two report cards, while his school work grades were very impressive, his citizenship grades weren't as high. We scheduled a meeting with his teacher to talk about what he could do to improve in this area. Afterall, we know how social and chatty he is:)

Together we created a little incentive plan. What is the plan you ask?...Each day Stone works on sitting still in his seat, not talking to the other kids at his table when he is supposed to be doing school work, and listening to Mrs. Larsen's directions. Then, after school each day, we receive an email from Mrs. Larsen letting us know how Stone did on his goals. Once Stone has five good reports in a row from Mrs. Larsen, he earns a prize. This plan has worked SO WELL! We've been doing it now for 4 weeks, and so far Stone has only had two days where he didn't get a good report. We're really proud of him and how hard he is working. Its hard to tame the chat:) We feel so lucky that Stone has such a wonderful teacher, who goes the extra mile to ensure his success. Now we have to figure out how we can afford to pay for all these prizes:)

Birthday Bash...Er, Something Like That...

2009-02-05T17:12:00.001-08:00

I'm so behind on my blogging...or I guess I'm more "out of order" than anything:)

Rick turned 36 on January 10th. To celebrate we went with a group of friends from our old neighborhood to El Matador in Bountiful. It is Rick's all time favorite restaurant. We ate, we chatted, we laughed, we gossiped (oh no, just kidding we DID NOT GOSSIP!:)

Of course, if you go to El Matador, you have to go to Baskin Robbins (or 13 flavors as Stone calls it...lol) right next door! It was a fun night spent with great friends!

I just want to say how lucky I am to be married to Rick. He is truly one of the funniest people I've ever met. He keeps life fun and he never lets the little things bother him. Well...let me qualify that, UNLESS those little things are politcal that is:) I couldn't ask for a better father for our son. I hope Stone knows how lucky he is to have a dad who gets to be home with him. I see Rick in Stone and am so grateful that they are so much alike. The world will be lucky to get a little Rick clone:) I love you Rick!!!!

Okay okay...you can't blame me...I haven't embarrassed Rick ONCE on this blog yet....that is until now:)

What a Kid!

2009-01-25T10:13:00.001-08:00

Stone is such an awesome little boy! We've been having family discussions about saving money and being more frugal. Anyone who knows us knows this is not an area we excel in:) We are spenders...a bad habit we are trying to curb.

This morning Stone came into my office and asked "Mommy, what are we saving our money for right now?" I told him that we are going to Disneyland later this year and that we are saving our money for that trip. He got thoughtful for a minute and then left the room. He came back with his piggy bank and said "You can have all the money in my piggy bank.":) He is constantly surprising us with his thoughtfulness.

Stone is also obsessed with watching the news. It is his TV program of choice...he even has a preference of which newscast he likes to watch. At first we had a hard time letting him watch the news...it is always so somber and sad and we weren't sure we wanted him exposed to so much "real life." But we decided that it is okay as long as we watch with him and can discuss it afterwards. Needless to say we've had some really funny and interesting conversations. Its amazing how much "he gets it."

The other day when I was driving Stone to school he said "Mommy, there is a horrible crisis in the world today." Of course, I was intrigued and asked him to explain. He went on to tell me about the high price of gas and how it is hard for the farmers to farm their land because they can't afford gas. He said that he would try to eat more fruits and vegetables to help the farmers. I got such a kick out of his little sense of responsibility to the world! I can't say that we've been consuming more fruits and veggies at our house, but afterall, isn't it the thought that counts???? :)

I'm a Digital Scrapbooker...WHAT?!?!?!

2009-01-16T18:30:00.000-08:00

Yay! My first digital scrapbook page. I'm so excited! I'm still figuring all the ins and outs of how it works, but I think I've got the basics down.

My friend Tracy showed me the digital scrapbooks that she had put together and they were SO cute! It convinced me that I had to give it a try.

I will continue to do Stone's books the old fashioned and expensive way (ha ha)...but am going to do a yearly family scrapbook digitally. Atleast that is the plan:)

Thanks Trac...for all your help in getting me started!

Picture Perfect...

2008-12-23T11:58:00.000-08:00

So each year around Christmas, Rick takes family pictures for several of our family and friends. We have several different locations where we do the pictures, and each family is rotated to a different location each year. It is quite a system we have going! My job is to "pose the family" and "hold the reflector..." very important duties Rick assures me:)

Anyway, this year we were cursed...or the people we took pictures of were cursed. We had some funny mishaps (let me qualify that as funny AFTER THE FACT)!

In our quest for a second location to take their family picture, we got our friends the Brondum's stuck in the sand. Of course, their picture turned out so cute that they couldn't possibly be mad at us. GET OVER IT ERIK! (ha ha).

Then on the way to the location where we were doing our friends the Johnson's picture, they hit a huge pothole and got a flat...not just any old flat...the $300 kind of flat. We were in such a hurry because the lighting was PERFECT! Rick is such a great photographer...its fun to see him in action. One day I will perfect my VERY IMPORTANT "photagrapher's side kick" duties:)

Here are just a few more of the pics that Rick has done.

Trail of Stone...

2008-12-19T16:26:00.000-08:00

When I was growing up my Mom would always tell me that she could tell exactly where I had been and what I had been doing in our house. She said I would leave a "trail." I now know exactly what she was talking about! Stone leaves a perfect trail of destruction through our house. Anyone could walk in our house and be able to tell exactly what Stone has been up to. Today he was out in the snow playing...you can see from the pictures that he shed his snow clothes by the garage door, shed his jammies (which he was wearing under his snow clothes) at the bottom of the stairs, then got in the bath tub upstairs. So funny! Stone definitely didn't get his looks from me as he looks JUST LIKE Rick...but he did get my "trail" making skills:) That's something right:)

Dear Santa...

2008-12-18T13:03:00.000-08:00

There is nothing we love more than Stone's yearly letter to Santa:) At "Tingle and Jingle's" prompting Stone got right on his letter to Santa. It went something like this...

Dear Santa:
I've been a very good boy this year. For Christmas I'd like big blocks so I can build a fort, airplane geotrax, a remote control dinosaur, legos, the Eye Clops, a v-pocket, and a guitar. There are more things I'd like but I just can't think of them now. I know this is alot to ask, so just do what you can. Thanks Santa...I love you!

We got such a chuckle out of the fact that he acknowledged that he was asking for a lot but that he would "let Santa off the hook" by saying "just do what you can." So funny! I love Christmas and all that comes along with it! I can't believe it is only a week away! It goes by WAY too fast!

Tingle & Jingle...

2008-12-13T09:31:00.001-08:00

We borrowed a fun Christmas tradition from our friends, the Johnson's. This is our 3rd year having "Tingle and Jingle" our family Christmas Elves visit. They come during the night sometime during the Christmas season and leave a little note for Stone to give him a "status report" on how he's doing on the "naughty & nice lists". They also leave him a little Christmas present.

Stone has been so excited for "Tingle and Jingle" to visit that he hasn't been sleeping through the night. He will come in to our room at 3 am to let us know that "Tingle and Jingle" didn't visit yet, but that he would try to go back to sleep to see if they would come:) Finally, "Tingle and Jingle" visited this week! They left Stone a cool marble toy and a note that went something like this...

"We’ve been watching and waiting for the right time to come and visit you. We were so excited that you didn’t have to pull a card in Mrs. Larsen’s class yesterday that we thought it was the perfect time to visit."

"Keep up the good work Stone. Nothing makes Santa more happy than when you are listening to your parents and are doing well in school. Santa is so very proud of the way you’ve been working on your spelling words and doing so well on your tests."

"Santa said to remind you to send him your list soon…he is busy packing up his sleigh for Christmas. Also, keep working hard in school! Work on your handwriting, and especially work on paying attention so you don’t have to pull cards. Good work Stone! Merry Christmas!"

I know what your thinking...we've added to the "Santa" threat and you would be right! Stone not only aced his spelling test this week, but he didn't have to pull one card! Thanks "Tingle and Jingle!"

Family Night Gone OH SO WRONG...

2008-12-01T20:32:00.000-08:00

We love Monday nights! Every Monday we have family night with our friends Cindy and Kallie Jo Stewart. They endure some new recipe I'm experimenting with for dinner, we go on fun outings, we play games, we do all sorts of goofy things. But tonight we had the family night of all family nights! I know what you are thinking...you are thinking we invited Keith Urban to dinner...but NO that is Rick...lol. Or as we now call him, "Kevin Urban"...Keith's long lost brother:)

Since Rick started his own company earlier this year, he decided that he would not get a haircut until January 2009. I think this is his rebellion from having to travel and do so many tradeshows at his last job. So he has been growing his hair since around May. His hair has grown bigger and bigger with each passing day and don't be fooled, he LOVES IT! He is very proud of his hair and we have more fun teasing him about it than you can imagine. Of course he wakes up first thing and in his fake suave voice says things like..."I wake up with my hair looking this good...jealous?" Ahhh, have I mentioned how much fun it is to be married to my husband? There is never a dull moment or a day without some serious laughter. Sorry Ladies...he's taken!!! :)

Take Another Look...

2008-11-21T09:38:00.001-08:00

Take another look...that isn't Stone...that is Rick with his Dad in 1978. Can you believe how much Stone looks like Rick as a child? I just can't get over it!

Rick's dad passed away when Rick was just 6 years old. We don't have many pictures of Rick with his dad so this one is quite a treasure!

I often wonder how Rick would be different if his dad hadn't died when he was so young. Rick's dad was an avid hunter and an athlete. Rick doesn't care much about sports (yay for me) and hunting is something I can't imagine him doing. Don't get me wrong he CARES if the U of U beats BYU (go Utes!!!)...but there is no Monday Night football at our house:)

Some of the things I love most about Rick I think are probably a result of him being raised by a single mother...a FABULOUS mother! Everybody should be as lucky to have a mother-in-law like I do!

I'm So Gourmet...Whoop Whoop!

2008-11-12T18:40:00.000-08:00

Okay, so no this is not a picture of my roasted chicken...but wouldn't it be fun if it was:) BUT, mine looked kinda like this! I've never roasted a chicken before and I was nervous...AND my cooking coach (Janet) wasn't answering her cell (it was like she was not concerned about my little roasting chickens AT ALL). And even with all of that I managed to roast an EDIBLE and pretty tasty chicken! Herbs and lemons in the "cavity" it was so gourmet I could hardly stand myself!!! Oprah did not lead me astray on this recipe:) Yay Oprah!

Indiana Jones

2008-11-04T19:05:00.000-08:00

Stone has known what he wanted to be for Halloween since our trip to Disneyland last February. Before we went on that trip we had rented all the Indiana Jones movies and watched them. We knew that on that trip he would be tall enough to ride "Indiana Jones Adventure." He was so excited after riding the ride that he decided he wanted to be Indiana Jones for Halloween. We thought he made a pretty cute and adventurous Indy:).

Because we had gotten back from our trip late the night before Halloween, I made Stone take a long nap before trick-or-treating. I should have followed suit! He had so much energy after his nap that we trick-or-treated for two full hours! He finally decided that he'd had enough after his bag was too heavy for him to carry anymore.

I got such a laugh out of his post trick-or-treating sorting of the candy. He cleared the entire family room floor and sorted all of his candy by type. It covered the entire floor! He then counted it and was very proud of his Halloween booty:)

I know I say this alot but I just can't believe how quickly he is growing up. You know they are getting older when they don't want to be dressed up as a fuzzy skunk or a cute little goat anymore:( Halloween has become one of our family's favorite holidays! I can't believe it has already come and gone!

Stone's "Spooktacular" Birthday Party

2008-10-31T14:11:00.000-07:00

For one reason or another, Stone has never had an official "friend" birthday party. His first several years it was because of his oxygen, then it was the fear of having him exposed to so many kids at once and the chance he would get sick, but this year there was no viable excuse so we threw "Stone's Spooktacular" birthday party:) He invited 16 friends (I know...CRAZY) and we had the time of our lives!

We created this huge Halloween obstacle course in our backyard. There was the "Skeleton Skip," where they had to skip through the row of skeleton heads to retrieve their skeleton rings, then there was the "Monster Mash" where they had to pop a balloon on the trampoline by doing a bum on it...once they popped their balloon they had to find and read a piece of paper that was inside the balloon to see what color of bouncy ball they needed to find in the grass. From there they headed to the "Critter Crawl" where we had caution tape tied from chair to chair and they had to crawl under the caution tape and look for a "creepy critter" in the grass, once they found their creepy critter they headed to the "Slimy Surprise" where they had to keep their eyes closed while trying to find a play snake in a huge bucket of beans. Once they found their snake, they went to the "Marshmallow Martian" where they had to get a marshmallow off of a piece of yarn which was hung from the swingset (without using their hands), once they did that they ran to the back fence to find their package of marshmellow treats with their name on it. Then on to the "Brain Buster" where they had to copy a tic-tac-toe pattern on the tic-tac-toe board in the play house. Each pattern was different. Once they completed that, they had to fish the squishy brain with their name on it out of a bucket of smarties. From there they went down the slide and to "Mummy Madness" where we wrapped them up like mummies and they had to hop to the "Graveyard Grovel." In the graveyard they had to find a bag of bones with their name on it then they had to do the "Pumpkin Pivot," where they weaved in and out of pumpkins to the finish line. By the end of the obstacle course they had a bag full of treats and surprises. It was so much fun!

After they completed the obstacle course they each got a little pumpkin to decorate. It really was a fun day and I think we made up for the last 6 years of no birthday parties:) Thank goodness for fabulous friends who helped us pull it off! I'm pretty sure I couldn't have handled 16 six-year old's all by myself:)

Happy B-Day Stoney Baloney!!!!

2008-10-30T06:43:00.001-07:00

I just can't get over the fact that my tiny little baby boy is 7 years old today! It seems like yesterday that we were chasing him around with his oxygen tank.

He is simply the sweetest, funniest, silliest, smartest, most fabulous little boy! He keeps us laughing every day and I can't imagine life without him! He is such a fun little traveler...always up for the next adventure and so much fun to be around. For some reason he seems to be more adventurous at Disneyland...we always make new discoveries when we are here. This year he ate his first breakfast burrito (a TRIUMPH for the "egg" he has avoided all his life:), drank his first glass of cranberry juice and liked it, and discovered that he does indeed like refried beans. He has always been an incredibly finicky eater and you wouldn't find him trying any of those things at home...but Disneyland for some reason brings out the adventurer in him.

Today is our last day in Disneyland, we fly home tonight. We always have such a great time here and are sad to be leaving. Today we are going to hit our favorite rides one last time (California Screamin, Tower of Terror, Toy Story, Soarin Over California, Indiana Jones, Pirates of the Carribean, and Space Mountain). We are then having a special birthday lunch for Stone at the Bleu Bayou, which is the restaurant right inside the Pirates of the Carribean ride. It is Stone's favorite place to eat and it is always so hard to get reservations so it is a real treat that we will get to eat there on his birthday. Then for his birthday present (as if Disneyland wasn't enough:) we are taking him to the Lego Store to pick out a birthday present...he has talked about it since we got here on Monday so that will be lots of fun!

Did I mention that we LOVE Disneyland???? :)

"California Screamin" - Day 2

2008-10-29T05:55:00.000-07:00

Another fabulous day at Disneyland! I have to say that Stone is such a stud! This year he was tall enough to go on "California Screamin" which is the roller coaster that goes upside down. I love that he is such a little adventurer and is always up to trying anything! Last year he was several inches too short to go on it, but this year, he was taller than the required 48 inches. I can't believe he is growing so fast! I have to admit, I was terrified for him to go on it...but we went. If he was willing to try, I wasn't going to keep him from doing it. It was great. He laughed and screamed the whole time. What a cool kid!!! Of course we got right off and went right back on it again. He loved it!

We have a little pattern we follow when we come to Disneyland. We spend one full day in California Adventure, then a full day in Disneyland. Today, we are going to visit all our favorite rides at both parks. So watch out Tower of Terror...here we come again!

Disneyland is amazing at Halloween time. They've completely transformed the park for Halloween. One of our favorites today was going to the Haunted Mansion, which they've completely redone in the theme of Tim Burton's "Nightmare Before Christmas"...it was incredible how every little detail was transformed.

We LOVE Disneyland - Day 1

2008-10-28T06:38:00.000-07:00

I know you must be asking yourself why I would be blogging this early while on vacation:) Well you see, I am an early riser and in California it is an hour earlier than in Utah. Rick is snoring away, and Stone and I are up. I'm blogging and Stone is coloring.

This is our first time coming to Disneyland in October. We always come with our friends the Christensen's in February and have always thought that it was much less crowded in that month...but we stand CORRECTED! October is a FABULOUS time at Disneyland. It is the least busy we've ever seen it. We are walking right on rides! The longest wait we've had has been 25 minutes and that was for the new "Toy Story" ride, which by the way was SPECTACULAR...one of my new favorites to be sure.

This trip we are here with our friends (although they are more like family), Cindy and Kallie Jo Stewart. They've been to Disneyland once before but it was at a very busy time of year and because of the crowds and lines only made it on 3 or 4 rides their entire trip. We have had such a fun time showing them Disneyland "Pollock Style." :)

We spent the majority of our first day at California Adventure. Cindy and Kallie had never been on the Tower of Terror so of course that was our VERY FIRST stop:) I watched Cindy the whole time to see her reaction...that was actually more fun than the ride...and she did not disappoint:) Stone likes the idea of the Tower of Terror, but it is always a little more than he bargained for. Kallie and Rick were obsessed with making the "perfect face" for the picture.

We had a great day with great friends! Can't wait to see what today brings:) We LOVE Disneyland!

7 Years Ago Today...

2008-10-18T19:31:00.000-07:00

Seven years ago today was the scariest day of our lives! I was 23 weeks pregnant and had woken up to get ready for work. I had some spotting that morning and I hadn't had any spotting during my pregnancy. I called my sister Stacie (at 6 am) and asked her what to do. She had just had her 3rd child a few weeks prior. She said that it was not abnormal for some spotting during pregnancies but that I should call my doctor just to be sure.

Dr. Melendez asked us to head to the hospital just as a precaution. He wanted to take a quick look and do an ultrasound just to make sure that everything was okay. We did the ultrasound and Dr. Melendez seemed happy with what he saw. He said that the heartbeat was strong and that Stone didn't seem to be in distress. He just wanted to quickly check my cervix before letting us go. Rick and I were breathing a huge sigh of relief. I will never forget what happened next. Dr. Melendez was checking my cervix and all of a sudden his face dropped. We knew in that instant that something was wrong. He said that I was dialating and that I was in labor. Both Rick and I broke down. This could not be happening! We asked Dr. Melendez what this meant for Stone and what the chances were that he would survive if he was born this early. Dr. Melendez told us that if they were unable to stop my labor and Stone was born at 23 weeks that there was only a 15% chance of his survival. We were absolutely devestated.

Dr. Melendez left the room to make transfer arrangements. They needed to transfer me to a hospital with a NICU capable of caring for a such a premature baby. They gave me medication to help stop the labor and a hormone shot to help strengthen Stone's lungs and give him a greater chance for survival. They loaded me into the ambulance to take me to Utah Valley Regional Medical Center. I will never forget that drive. Rick was following the ambulance and I could see him crying and talking on the phone. He was calling his mom and my sister to let them know what was going on.

Once I was admitted to the hospital I was taken for an internal ultrasound which allowed them to better view the blood flow, etc. It was amazing to see Stone's heartbeat and the perinatologist said that he looked strong and that his heart was strong. So if we could stop the labor and get a few more weeks (preferrably more) that his chances for survival would go up. Luckily my body responded to the medication and my cervix stopped dialiting. I was at a "3" at the time. It was such a time of uncertainty. I don't think I've ever been so scared in my life. I spent two weeks on best rest in the hospital before Stone decided he couldn't wait a minute longer to arrive.

I have to admit that I still sometimes wonder what it would feel like to be full-term pregnant. I never felt Stone kick or move in the womb, I never got really big and pregnant...in fact I had just worn my first maternity outfit the day before this all happened. But honestly, looking back, I can't picture it being any different. So much of who we have become as a family is because of what we went through together. There isn't a day that goes by that we don't realize how lucky we are to have our funny little boy!

A Major Milestone for Sure...

2008-10-13T19:29:00.001-07:00

Well today we hit a major life milestone...no really, this is MAJOR! Stone's first spelling test:) I don't quite know why we were so excited and geeked out about it, but it felt like a really big deal to us. It wasn't so much the grade he got...although that was AWESOME and we are so proud of him, it was more the fact that he had his first spelling test. It is like a right of passage.

We practiced his words every day and he worked so hard on memorizing them. We of course celebrated like crazy when he came home with his 100% (you know...Capri Suns and Goldfish all around).

We are so sentimental about every little thing with Stone. I don't know if it is because he is an only child and we know we won't ever have another child, or if it is because of the scare we had when he was born and all of the dire predictions that come along with being a preemie, or maybe all parents are like this with their children.

It will be a sad day when Stone goes out in the real world one day and realizes that it doesn't actually revolve around him:) But for now, it does and we will relish in all the small things that make this life great! Way to go Stoney Baloney!

(...and just in case you can't read a six year old's hand writing...Rick contends he has the hand writing of a doctor lol...his spelling words were "to, of, and, the, a, wins, fits, sits, naps, and hits).

My Handsome Boys...

2008-10-09T07:34:00.000-07:00

Look at my handsome boys!

One of Rick's best friends was married recently. Rick was the best man and Stone was the ringbearer.

We had such a laugh when we took Stone to the tux shop to get fitted. Once they were done with his fitting, I had taken Stone back to the dressing room to take the tux off and get him back in his normal clothes. Stone looked up at me and said "Mom, when I'm older I'll take this off in front of my girlfriend"...Of course I didn't think I heard him right...surely my 6 year old child did not just tell me that one day he would be taking his tux off in front of his girlfriend! So I asked him "what buddy?...what did you say?"...and a little exasperated he said "Mom, I said that one day when I wear a tux I will take it off in front of my girlfriend." Uh, Ahhh, Um...WHAT THE?!? Those of you who know me, know that I'm rarely at a loss for words...but needless to say I was ABSOLUTELY at a loss for words.

Rick, who was in the dressing room next to Stone and I and overhearing the conversation, just yelled "Soap Opera's!!!!"...LOL. I might Tivo ONE soap opera...gosh give a girl a break:)

"Hey Ladies..."

2008-10-06T09:34:00.001-07:00

Let me replay the conversation we had with Stone when he came home from school the other day...
Stone: Hey Mom, today at recess I walked by some girls and I said "Hey Ladies" and pointed at them. Mom: Really, you did? Are you just teasing me? Stone: No, mom "FOR REALS" I did. I walked right by a group of girls and said "Hey Ladies..." Mom: Were they girls you know? Stone: No, but they were cute!

Oh my gosh! Seriously, where does this child come up with this stuff? There is only one logical conclusion...Rick must be giving Stone secret funny lessons! Every day it is some funny something that he has said or done. Life without Stone would be SO DULL!

Boy in the Cupboard

2008-10-01T08:28:00.000-07:00

Stone went to the Museum with his friend Leif and Leif’s Mom, Janet. The only thing Stone wanted from the museum was a whistle, which Janet finally gave in and bought for him. (Don’t worry, we will pay her back for that fine favor:) We made Stone promise that he would only use his whistle outside. The next day we could hear this faint whistling but couldn’t find Stone. We followed the sound of the whistle into Stone’s room where we could see light shining through the cubby seams in his dresser. When we opened the cubby there was Stone in only his underwear and shoes blowing his whistle and holding his lantern. Oh what a kid!

In the Beginning...

2008-10-01T07:37:00.000-07:00

I'm finally getting my act together and starting the official "Pollock Chronicles." We had a blog when Stone was first born and when I read back over it, I can't believe how far we've come. From that humble little shaky beginning has come the funniest, quirkiest, sweetest, most loving little boy! Of course he had no choice but to be funny...look who his dad is!

There is not a day that goes by that I'm not thankful for this little family of mine. We might be small in number, but we are chuck full of "funny" and our love is BIG! I wouldn't have it any other way.