Monday, December 31, 2012

My Babies...









May 2013 be a wonderful year for them.

Saturday, December 29, 2012

addendum

I forgot to add:

I am down to below my pre-pregnancy weight, which after having three kids feels pretty good.

Chris lost almost thirty pounds in 2012. Which sort of blows my mind. He is awesome sauce.

Looking at 2013


I realized that right around the time that Chris and I got our iphones, I stopped posting on the blog. Well, it didn't help so much that I was pregnant and nauseous around that same time too, and then Alex got here and here we are. Ten months later. I'm going to make a resolution that in 2013 I will start posting to this blog again. Maybe not as often as I once did when it was just Lia and myself; but at least once a week. I love the ability to look back at years of Lia's life and see pictures of her and re-read stories. I want to make sure that I have that for Davy and Alexandra too.

This might be a bit wordy but I feel a need to catch everyone up on what we are all up too before 2012 draws to a close.

2012 has been a good year. Tough, but good.

Alexandra was born. Life sucked while she was in the hospital. Life got better when she was out. :-) Lia started kindergarten in September. Davy started preschool. Annie got engaged. Kate moved to a new house.

I am so grateful for my family. So thankful to have everyone I love so close to me.

I started running! I completed the c25k program which I never thought I was going to be able too and discovered that I love running. I used to die a thousand painful deaths after running for five minutes. I can now run for an hour without dying. I feel strong and powerful when I run. I feel like I am accomplishing something. I love the fact that I can keep running for life, because there never needs to be an end to it. I can always add on more miles or do a different race. I signed up for a 10k race in March with my sister's, and I couldn't be more thrilled and excited. I discovered I have a penchant for workout gear. I want to own everything. :-)

I'm proud that we made it another year with three kids and we haven't lost one to a rushing creek or a meteor or anything like that. That no one has been brought to the emergency for something awful (knock on wood...). I'm proud that Chris and I survived another year. Well, that HE survived another year with me. :-) I'm proud that for the most part I cook dinners every night. That I am actually pretty good in the kitchen. :-)

I'm looking forward to 2013. I'm going to keep running. Chris is racing and doing super well at it. Last year was his first real season of racing ever, and he was amazing. He got an article written about him in the Santa Cruz Sentinel newspaper which tickled the kids to no end. He did it all with minimal cost to us since he pretty much podiumed every singe event. He was only a few points away from winning the season championships but missed it by a hair. (DIE ROBERT THORNE!!!). I realized that I actually don't mind going to the track; that I may actually downright like it. Screaming and cheering while he races is pretty fun. :-) Plus, it gets the kids out of the house which makes my life infinitely easier. In February 2013 we are heading to Disneyland for four days which I am so so excited for. I can't wait. It is going to be epic.

Lia. Oh my. She's gotten so grown up. She started kindergarten this year as a transitional kindergartener but she pretty much is doing everything the kindergarten students are doing and will move up to First Grade along with the rest of her classmates if we feel like she is ready. She is so so smart. Smarter than I was. :-) She reads alot now, and I can't wait for her to discover the easy reader books so she can read to Davy and Alex. She loves music and dancing; she's got an innate sense of music to her and the way she dances expresses that. She is so honest and forthcoming. She loves her siblings SO much that sometimes she just HAS to CHOKE them to EXPRESS it all. :-) She is the most principled person I've ever met. She brushes her teeth religiously and flosses. I didn't do that until I was like, twenty eight... or something... But she's also got such a sweet and cute sense of humor. When you look at her, she squishes up her little nose in a smile and you just have to beam back at her.

David. He LOVES school. Tuesdays and Thursday's he goes, and he just barrels out of the car and charges in with laughter and smiles. He is silly. If you ask him something, he rolls his eyes back and does this weird voice and says random stuff. He's such a ham. He's still a snuggly bug. He doesn't wake up happy ever. When he wakes up (in the morning, from nap, any time) he is a total crank. You basically can't talk to him until he comes out of a corner... he loves moving around and jumping and dancing. While Lia dances with fineness and timing; Davy dances all out. Throws his head around and jumps. He doesn't have any interest in reading or writing or drawing. He loves his helicopters, cars and things that go. He is a chatty fellow, always asking random questions about odd things. I finally took him to have his hair cut short and he's got the nicest little head now. I love running my hand over the top of it. He really is a jovial little person; best way to describe him.

Alex is ten months old now and is OPINIONATED. Holy cow. She is also super lovable and cuddly. She has a mouthful of teeth and was the first of my babies to say momma instead of dada. She is so funny. Today after my run I picked her up to cuddle her and she started ferociously sucking on my face (I think I tasted salty from sweat) and then beaming up at me. She is a chunk. She is in the 90th percentile for height and weight and 98th for head size. She had a rough beginning but you never would guess now... :-) She can walk too; a little unsteadily but I would definitely call her a walker. She goes super fast when she crawls. She's adorable, fat and marvelous and I love her dearly. She's also growing up so fast...

I will post some pictures tonight, but I just wanted to check in and write something since Alex is napping (which she has been for the last hour and a half... holy cow- it's got to be some sort of world record for her!).

I love love love my little family and am looking forward to 2013. BRING.IT.ON. :-)

Monday, October 15, 2012

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Pictures from Alex's birth

 Pictures from Alex's entrance to the world...







Friday, May 25, 2012

... Alexandra ...

I actually wrote three or four entries trying to describe Alexandra's entrance, but they always just came out sounding forced and rushed.

I figure this next time might be the charm. :-)

Alexandra was born no issues. Once again, the only gross part about the c-section was when my blood pressure dropped; it literally feels like you are going to start puking your guts out but you are so weak that all you can manage is a sputtering faint cough. It is such an odd thing to meet your new baby. This time Sutter apparently had changed their policies so even c-section babies were given to the mom's right away. They took her out and rather unceremoniously put her on my chest, all blood and gore. I think I may have looked shocked and taken aback. She scored nine's on her APGARS and was by far our smallest baby at 7 lbs, 10 oz. I remember being disappointed for a minute because she wasn't a 9 lb baby which meant I had actually eaten those two extra pounds; it wasn't just baby. I remember thinking it was taking them forever to sew me up because my arm was getting tired holding onto her. She was a pretty quiet little bug when she was born. We got wheeled to our room and I really spent most of the rest of the time alone. Chris had to help shuttle Lia and Davy about so I hung out in the room with her (she didn't have a name at that point) and I think Em and Kate came to hang out for a bit. I remember Em and I talking about how her feet were really blue and I asked twice but both times the nurses said that was normal.

It was around 4pm that Chris, the kids and Linda dropped by. Lia was on her way to ballet class and I told her she could hold Alexandra when she got back. Davy got to hold Alex for a few minutes. The nurse came into do her vitals and said that she looked like she might be some difficulty breathing. I remember the nurse being very cautious not to overstate anything. She came in with a blood oxygen thing that she put on her finger, than on her toe. She said she wanted to take her back to the nursery to be monitored. I was nervous, but I figured what could be wrong? Alex was a healthy weight, great APGARS, full term.

The rest of it is a blur really. I remember them telling me they were calling on the on call pediatrician. The pediatrician came in once to introduce herself and then left. The next time she came in, she pulled up a chair, clasped her hands and leaned forward. It was one of those gestures that you know that they are trying to prepare you for something. She told us that Alex wasn't getting better and we were going to have to move her to Dominican. I think that was the moment that I felt like something could be wrong. She told us that some of the nurses thought she might have been having seizures of some sort. I remember feeling sick. And starting to cry. It took the ambulance a while to get there- Chris spent that entire afternoon, evening sitting with me and comforting me and then checking in on Alex. AMR finally got her ready to go around 10pm. She was in this huge HUGE incubator type thing. I could barely see her. I remember feeling useless and terrible since I couldn't even get up and stand next to the incubator or touch her hand.

The next days are a blur. I remember Chris telling me her lung had collapsed. Somewhere in the middle of this I was moved to the surgical ward of the surg/maternity center which was a god send. I remember sitting in that room by myself, unable to move because of the incision pain, and staring up at the little card they give you of her footprint (right after she was born) and hearing a baby in the next room over cry. It was awful. When they moved me, I was crying because they had taken Alex away. As I was wheeled into the surgery ward, a nurse (who I'm sure was so well meaning) called out, "Where's your baby?" At that moment I wanted to stab her.

But what was amazing and wonderful was my nurse. Monet was one of my L&D nurses with both Lia and Davy and I shot her wedding. She was SO wonderful that whole night.

Anyhow, the next morning I remember they began talking of moving her to Lucile Packard. That utterly freaked me out and devastated me. That day is a blur. Chris company sent us chocolate covered fruit I remember (weird what sticks out...) and I remember I had to sign papers with her legal name. Chris and I were pretty sure she was Alexandra but I remember thinking how odd it was that he wasn't there as I signed her name and her middle name. I hoped I had spelled it the way he wanted. Alexandra Katherine Lock. I remember telling the kids we were going to all sleep at the hospital that night. But then we got word that Alex was leaving for LPCH that evening. If I wanted to see her before she left, I had to go to Dominican then. We got signed out for a day pass and we went over to Dominican. I remember hating EVERYONE then. The social worker who tried to give us some information. The nurses. The Doctors. The person who thought I was going in to deliver and who cheerfully told me in the parking lot, "Smile, your baby will be out soon!" Talk about kicking someone when they're down... :-)

Anyhow, she was intubated at that point. It was also at this point that I realized she had never opened her eyes for me. I had never seen her eyes. For some reason that was a stab in the heart that I could barely get through.

We went back to Sutter after she left. I don't remember if I stayed in the hospital again that night or if we were discharged that night. Either way, I was discharged early. That night we got home and I remember sobbing into Chris' chest in bed that night. It was that disgusting gross crying. The sort where it feels like someone is stomping on your chest and tearing out your throat. It was the worse feeling ever. We had her crib ready. Her clothes. The diapers. Her soft blankets. Her little booties. Ugh. Just remembering that awful feeling makes my throat hurt right now.

And then the days run together. Alex ended up getting a fever after she got to LPCH and I remember being so thankful that the Dr's at Dominican had the forethought to send her to LPCH since she was very very sick. Chris is the only one I think who really understood or will ever understand how sick she really was. He saw her when she was at her very very sickest. He was incredible. He drove every morning to see her, and then back for a nap and lunch, and then he would take me over in the afternoon. He did that for almost ten days. I am still a little in shock about how he managed to get through it all. He was the pillar of strength. He kept my head above water, kept the kids feeling like there was some sense of normalacy and he was there for Alex every second he could.

Visiting her was hard. She was under bilirubin lights and intubated. She was on morphine for pain and sedation medicines to keep her calm. She had these things over her eyes to keep them closed from the bilirubin light. It was just so surreal. I remember when she FINALLY started getting better it was amazing. Gut wrenching in a good way. When they finally removed her tube, I was able to hold her. She was a week old. I remember Chris handing her to me and feeling like tears were coming out of everywhere. I was so happy. I was able to nurse her a few days after and then she improved rapidly. She was transferred back to Dominican where she was for a little under two days and then she was released.

The whole experience was incredible. Both in how awful it was, and how good things came of it. People stepped up to help. They brought food. Watched the kids.

So yeah, that's it. :-)


Sunday, May 13, 2012

Two Davy-isms

Davy saw this banana slug crawling up my parent's step and after gazing it in admiration, came up to me, clutched his hands in supplication and begged, "May I please tickle him with a leaf??"


This morning Davy came into the kitchen, brandishing a felt pen and proudly said, "Look!! I put dots all over my pants. Aren't they pretty??"




Saturday, March 3, 2012

When it rains...

Photo7

First off, here is a picture of my new daughter Alexandra Katherine.  She is 100% ok now, but her arrival was one of the most interesting, and hardest of my life.

Anyone who is a parent knows, that even though we fear things like complicated deliveries and sick children, we never actually believe it will happen to us.  Even when taking your baby courses, they will throw the statistics in your face, but you are positive you will be on the good side of the curve when your little one is born.

Fate surprised us once with our first daughter, who needed an emergency C-section.  We assumed lighting had struck us once and would not visit again.  This was reinforced by the fact that our son, David, came into the world flawlessly, and both our kids were pictures of health.

My wifes third pregnancy was the EASIEST of the three.  Relatively little discomfort and smooth sailing the whole time.  We looked forward to the delivery day(which was to be a planned c-section, as my wife must always have since Lia) and were sure that we would sail right into the next months as easily as the previous 9 had gone.

Eight hours after a perfect delivery, we were happy to be holding our new baby, and couldn't be more oblivious to the situation that was brewing for her.  A routine vitals check found that her breathing was somewhat fast and labored, and she was taken to the nursery for observation.  Just an hour after that she was being wisked away to a neighboring hospital and a Level 3 NICU.  For my wife and I, who had already been doing our endzone dance, this felt like a slap in the face as the on call pediatrician(through teary eyes) informed us that our daughter had some kind of infection in her lungs and would need help to breathe.

I sat up the first night with baby Alex not sure what to think.  She was clearly sick now and getting sicker every hour.  100% Oxygen was not enough to keep her blood properly saturated, so she was intubated.  There I was, sitting someplace I never thought I would be: next to my child being kept alive by a machine.

Eventually I had to leave her to go pick up my other kids, but there was "slight" improvement and the doctors were saying we just needed to wait for the infection to run it's course.  7 days.  The next day I was reporting this to Amanda, when the phone rang.  It was the Neonatologist callingt o say that Alex's lungs had collapsed, requiring them to pressurize her lungs, and that she was to be driven within the hour to Stanford Children's Hospital.

Well, you know your kid is sick when you are at Stanford. And we were the unofficial "sickest baby" in the NICU.  102 fever. 100% O2, 20PPM NO2, and 3 of 4 breaths being given to her by a machine.  She never woke, hardly moved.  Just breathed.  For 10 days I drove highway 17 twice a day to be with her and bring news back to Amanda and the rest of my family.

If I thought this was as bad as it got, I would be proven wrong as news of an absurdly high fever and lung infection had my brother spending the night in an ER.  The next day, my father had a series of blood tests indicating a FAILING liver.  A chest x-ray indicating a DEAD LUNG or Hodgkins Lymphoma.

Oddly, I was pretty numb by now.  Just asking for information, given what information I had, as 3 Locks faced extremely uncertain medical outcomes.

But looking back now, this could have been harder.  Our friends and family rallied around us to make sure this was as easy as possible.  We never needed to cook a dinner.  Our kids were watched at all hours of the day or night.  These little gifts were the things that allowed Amanda and myself to focus on the family health.

Well, it all turned out ok.  Alexandra slowly recovered, and after 10 uncertain days, was release to us and declared 100% recovered from Sepsis and Pulminary Hypertension.  Mike was given antibiotics for his bronchitis, and my dad was informed(by a rather embarrassed doctor) that a culture had return positive for a Mono-like virus that can effect liver function, and that he would be fine.

So my paternity leave turned out to not be as relaxing as I thought.  I can't wait for vacation... 

 

 

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Sunday, February 5, 2012

My four year old engineer...

Lia has a toy bunk bed for her dolls that has a cardboard base for the top bunk. This recently started drooping and falling through. Her solution shocked me with its level of sophistication. Maybe she will be a civil engineer:

Photo

Sent from my iPhone

Friday, January 27, 2012

Skyward strike!

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Sent from my iPhone

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Eyes

Last night as I got the kids ready for bed, we discussed in detail eyeballs. What they were made of, why I wore contacts, why they didn't pop out, etc. It was a very in depth discussion full of hypothetical statements and deep thoughts.

It must have been on Davy's mind this morning.

I was sucking on a throat lozenge due to my nasty cough, and in a fit of sneezing, it flew out of my mouth and landed at Davy's feet who was sitting near me. He took one look at it, scooted back and squeaked in tones of horror, "IS THAT YOUR EYE!?!?!?!"

Monday, January 16, 2012

Let's go racing... AGAIN!

Those who know me know that life after kids has not included as much racing as I would like.  I have been able to supplement my passion with one-off track days in borrowed cars, or hitting some outdoor kart enduros, but this has not been cutting it lately.  Well about the same time I was making "racing" my New Year's resolution, my brother called me to say Brandon Kraus sold his USTCC winning prelude to Percy Howard, and so Percy was looking for a buyer for HIS Honda Challenge 2 Spec Prelude.  Such good timing.  So I decided to particiapate in the "Great Car Swap of 2012".  Percy's car is now in my garage.

Photo1
Photo2

The Prelude has a very unqiue suspension for a FWD car, making it arguably the best handling front drive ever made. It also has honda's "big block" H22A, which gives it gobs of reliable NA torque.

Photo3

H2 Spec means that modifications are limited.  A custom roll cage by Mike Lock is the primary saftey element, while a Racetech 9009HR keeps me snug and safe.  A sparco race wheel mounts to the stock adjustable tilt steering column.   

Except for the intake, the engine is as it was from the factory.  Currently the car uses the factory ECU and fuel maps, something I may change in the future, but for now will leave as is for reliability.  Currently the car measures 188hp/150tq as far as output.

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One thing H2 spec lets you change out is brakes.  This car borrows the twin piston calipers and wider rotors from an Acura Legend GS.  Rear brakes are stock.  A tilton adjustable brake bias valve replaced the stock proportioning. 

Photo6

This car has a wonderfully retro LCD "cab forward" dash reminiscient of late 90's design.  It may be heavy, but cmon, how cool is that?

Photo5

So then what do I do with it?  Honda Challenge in Norcal was an option, but I have done that before.  This will be a spectacular endurance car, so I plan to partner up with Brandon Kraus and run some of the Western Endurance Racing Championship with him, as well as the 25 Hours of Thunderhill.  But both he and Percy have become devils on my shoulder to take this thing out and contest some US Touring Car events.  It's a long short without a lot more power.  USTCC packs some turbo Evos and mazda 3s.  But this car can out handle either.  I wouldn't count it out.  If I scratch around for some sponsors, a better engine would make this car a championship contenders, just like Brandon's(now Percy's).

Yeah, you will see me in March at the USTCC opener.(www.ustcc.com)

Friday, January 13, 2012

Chilling at the scene of the infamous mt view face biting!

Take back the kids section! :)

Photo

Sent from my iPhone

Thursday, January 12, 2012

Davy

I was chopping vegetables for dinner and Davy came running into the kitchen. He clasped his wee hands, smiled up at me and asked cheerfully, "Are you killing the potatoes for dinner?" :-)

Lia bump and pass


Sent from my iPhone

Monday, January 2, 2012

Engineering...

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Sent from my iPhone

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Lia's new recipe

She calls it "sugar on bacon". She is very proud of herself.

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Sent from my iPhone