The First Snow of the Year

 

 

 

 

One of my favorite parts of being a Mom is getting to witness the new discoveries that my children make and watching their excitement when they discover something new or that somethings changed in their little world. Warner gets ecstatic when he discovers anything new. For example, the other day Jaron had left the lid off of our toilet, because he needed to replace a part in there.  Now, I know Warner tends to have a fascination for drains, toilets, and anything that goes in to those two things, but that's besides the point. When Warner discovered the toilet, lid ajar he exclaimed "Mom! You have GOT to come see this!" I quickly ran to see what was the matter, assuming the worst.  I was so relieved when I saw he was yelling not out of shock or fear, but out of excitement and actually sheer joy at the fact that the toilet had so many cool inner workings under that mysterious lid. 

One of the perks of parenthood is getting to watch little humans make new discoveries. And you get to be the one that see's their reaction to that discovery. You get to see their reaction the first time they taste food. The first time they take a step, touch a soft puppy, eat iceceam, or see the inside of a toilet.  

So today, here in Seattle, we had the first snowfall of the year, and while my children have all seen snow before, it is always a very exciting moment when the FIRST snow flakes fall. 

You really would think it was Christmas Day. They wake up their sleepy little heads, look out the window and scream "SNOW!!" They then dawn their snow gear as quickly as they can, forgetting breakfast and any other part of their morning routine as they open the door, and let in that crisp cool draft and tromp off in the yard looking in wonderment at their footprints in the freshly fallen snow. 

After dropping Liv off at school, I should have gotten right to about a billion things on my to-do-list, but instead I chucked it in the trash can and joined the boys outside in the snow.  It felt so good to play with the kids. We built a snowman and made snow angels. Warner and Buster even instigated a little friendly snow fight.  It only lasted about 45 minutes before they were cold and done, but it was the best 45 minutes of my day. 

Sometimes I have to remind myself to throw away the to-do-list and just live a little. 

Introducing Ruby Sonora Brown

Introducing Ruby Sonora Brown

Born on November 26,2013 at 3:21pm

Weighing in at 8lbs9oz and 20.5 inches long

Warning: this post has some gory birth details so feel free to skip if you don't like that sort of thing. 

Welcome to the world Ruby Sonora Brown! You came late, but you came well. Here is your birth story.

You were due on November 19th, but you didn't come into this world until November 26th. It was ok that you were late, because I wasn't too uncomfortable, and besides that you were definitely worth the wait. What a beautiful, sweet little spirit you are.

Your Dad and I planned and prepared so well this pregnancy for you to come into this world. We spent time together at night reading books on natural child birth. It was very bonding and gave us some time amidst the chaos of having three other kids who needed to be taken care of, to take a moment to just think about us and you.  I told Grandma to get her plain ticket for November 20th, because I was so sure you were coming early. When you weren't here yet, I thought you were just waiting for Grandma and Jen to get here, but when they came and you didn't, I thought you must be waiting for Grandpa to get here. I guess that was the truth, because you came about 24 hours after he got here.

On Monday the 25th I decided to call the midwives to go into get checked and have my membranes swept. I was only dilated to a 1 and not effaced at all. I was so surprised, because both of the boys had come early. I couldn't believe that my cervix wasn't doing anything, but at the same time I knew that dilation doesn't necessarily predict anything. I cramped a little all day from the sweeping of membranes and by 3:00am Monday night, some mild contractions finally hit. They weren't intense enough or frequent enough to convince me I was in labor, but by the time my appointment rolled around I still had a feeling to tell Jaron to take the day off and come with me.

At 9:00am on Tuesday morning, the midwife checked me. I was at a 4 and she swept my membranes one more time just to keep things moving. She did a very thorough job, because it HURT. I wouldn't have gotten my membranes stripped if it weren't for the fact that my Mom and Dad were going to be leaving in four days, and I just thought it would be a shame if they came all this way and didn't even get to meet the you. This second appointment definitely did the trick and contractions started. The appointment ended around 10:00am. Contractions still weren't too hard or painful yet so we went to Babies R US to buy some last minute baby supplies. By the time we checked out I decided I wanted to be home and in the tub laboring. I got in the tub and contractions were still pretty spread out, but were picking up in the pain factor. At about 1:00pm my water broke in the tub. I called my Mom who was with my Dad and Jen at Costco and said they should probably head back home soon. We couldn't leave until they got home, because Buster was asleep in his crib.

Jaron was checking on me often and getting some last minute things ready for us at the same time.  About 20 minutes after I made that phone call, the contractions were painful enough to make me cry.  By 2:00 I was in a lot of pain, contractions were coming on fast and Jaron was loading me in the car.

The next hour was kind of a blur. My Mom and David got home just in time for my Madre to follow us to the hospital. I sat in the back of the car that Jaron was driving on all fours and tried my best to make it through each contraction. I'm proud of myself, cause I only cussed once.

  By the time we got to the hospital I could hardly walk, because as it turned out I was already in transition. They made me go to triage and I just started to cry. I just wanted to get in a hot bath, not sit in the uncomfortable triage unit. It seemed like forever, but only a few minutes passed before my midwife showed up and started playing advocate the minute she saw how much pain I was in. She didn't yell, but was pretty firm with the Triage nurses when she said "Admit her now! Clearly she is in active labor and does not need to be checked"! She was such an angel, and over the next hour I decided this woman was the best advocate, coach, and baby deliverer I had ever had.

It was all sort of a whirlwind after that. I got an IV to get antibiotics in me, because I was GBS positive. The nurse got it in one poke. Then, I went right in the tub. After that I guess you could say I was in labor land. The only constant face I kept in focus was Jaron's. When I wasn't looking at him, and squeezing his hand I was closing my eyes and screaming or moaning. It was such an out of body experience. I could feel the pain, but it's like I was also looking down at myself in labor surrounded by so much love and support. The nurse and midwife were massaging my back. Jaron was holding my hand. I could hear my Mom's words of encouragement. The midwife talked me through each painful contraction "Focus on the water. Focus on our hands." Then I could hear Jaron "You got this babe. You got this. You are doing so great. You are so strong". It make me cry to think it possible to feel so much love at one time.

I also felt a connection to you Ruby. I knew you were on the inside helping me. Strengthening me. Doing your part.  My Mom later told me that she also felt very impressed that my Dad, Grandma Hoopes, and Grandpa Pope were in the room.  I told her I hope there was some what of a veil over their eyes, because I wasn't exactly modest.

At some point Jaron asked my Mom to go move the car which was in the tow away zone. He had no idea how close I was to pushing. But minutes after she left I felt the urge. I was immediately rushed our of the tub and made it only a few steps to the delivery bed where i just leaned over and squatted. It hurt so bad, but I knew that this was it. I only had a little longer to go. My Mom came back in the room, I pushed two more times, and Ruby, you sweet little thing entered into the world and into our hearts.

The midwife said "Reach down and grab your baby". I was kind of in a daze, but when I saw your face I started to cry. This was it. They laid me down on the bed and I held you for the first time. It felt so peaceful. There were only a few people in the room. And everyone was pretty quiet. Jaron came to my side and said "You did it! You really did it".  My Mom said "I'm so proud of you Jess".

You latched on right away and started nursing. And for the next forty five or so minutes I got to just hold you and bask in the moment. During this time I delivered the placenta which was super cool and then got a couple stitches for a very minor tear. My body shook all over, which I was not expecting, but is apparently normal for natural childbirth.

After forty five minutes Jaron said "Can I hold her now?" Thus our life together had begun.

Looking back on the experience I wish so badly that I could go back to my other births and have them naturally and with a midwife. It was such a beautiful experience. Instead of feeling like a passive patient, in and out of sleepy drug land, I was fully present. I was aware.

With an OBGYN I didn't get as much skin to skin time. They were more anxious to weigh and measure my babies. With the midwife and these wonderful nurses there was absolutely no rush. It felt like time stood still. They were so respectful of the mother baby time and didn't even do her APGAR score until an hour after she was born.

Before I end the post. I have to say a thing or two about the people that helped me. To my Dad who held down the fort at home so that Mom could be at my birth. He played with the kids and loved them, and fed them. The time with Grandpa was priceless to them.

To my Mom who was so supportive and whose presence and strength of having her own six children was definitely felt in the most painful moments of my labor.

To the midwife who yelled at the triage nurses to admit me, who wouldn’t let the nurse poke me with the IV until my contraction was over, and who squatted in what was probably a very awkward position so that I could have my baby standing up. She simply said "Do what your body tells you to do".

To the nurses who massaged and soothed me during some painful contractions and were so great in caring for the baby and me after the delivery.

And, finally to Jaron, who is the love of my life, and to whom I feel more love now than ever before. To all the hours he put in massaging my back every night and reading boring birth books. He was my strength in labor. His steady flow of love and assurance in me is what got me through the whole labor.

To illustrate his wonderfulness as my birth partner I want to convey what he did during one of my most painful contractions. I was walking to the car from the house and we were just about to head out to the hospital. A contraction hit. I doubled over in pain and leaned over on the back of the van and cried. Jaron who had been opening the door of the red car, immediately ran to my side, engulfed me in his arms and said "You can do this. It's ok. It's almost over. There you go. You got this Jess." There was nothing and no one in the world that could have soothed me at that moment like he did. That's how I felt for the next hour, strengthened by his voice and encouragement, and engulfed in his love. I'm so proud of him for being such a great birth partner. I'm not sure which is worse, feeling the pain, or watching someone you love feel the pain.

So, in the end, I had arrived at the hospital at 2:30pm on Tuesday the 26th of November and Ruby, you took your first breath in this world at 3:21. And what a sweet little angel you are Ruby.

My heart goes out to all the women who have to labor like that for hours and hours. My heart goes out to women who have C-Sections or epidurals. No birth is an easy one. And everyone does what is best for them, but for me I loved the natural experience. No catheter's. No dizziness. Quicker recovery. Less tearing. More alert when the birth actually happened. All these things outweighed the pain. Now I just can’t wait until it doesn’t hurt to nurse. Ah. Then I’ll be taking a vacation from pain for as long as I can.

39 going on 40 Weeks

Organize kids clothes. Check.
Clean out, organize, and stock fridge with easy food. Check
Laundry. Check
Decorate baby room. Check
Move bunk beds to boys room. Check
Buy birthday presents for Liv. Check
Clean bathrooms. Check
Pack hospital bag. Check
Arrange for care of kids while in hospital. Check
Wash and get out baby girl clothes. Check
Do 100 squats. Check
Walk four miles. Check
Jump on the trampoline. Check
Have a baby. . . .. . . . . . . . . . . ...............................................................................

Pregnancy Update

Warner was messing around with the camera the other day and said "Mom let me take your picture" this was the result. This is as close as I'm probably going to get to maternity pics.

Well October has come and gone, which means that we are now entering the month of big changes around the Brown household. In less than 24 hours I will kiss goodbye my 20's, in hopefully less, but possibly more than 19 days I will give birth to our fourth child, and in 24 days my little Liv will turn 7. 

I'm 37 weeks pregnant, and I feel 

happy

tired

blessed

peaceful

stressed

hot

hungry

and loved. 

It just depends on the day really, but overall I feel an increase of energy and the nesting phase has begun. If I can get a little nap in during the middle of the day I am especially sweet and good tempered. 

I have had odd cravings this pregnancy. My cravings come and go and have varied throughout this pregnancy.  One week I'll crave olives and I will seriously go through a whole jar in one week. Another week it's balsamic vinegar, and I will have it on a salad everyday for 10 days in a row before I move onto something else. For a couple weeks it was dipping graham crackers and milk. Not too healthy of a craving unfortunately but I couldn't resist dipping the double cracker into that white creamy goodness, and then biting the soft, soggy whole-milk soaked cracker. Mmmm. Savory. The one craving that has been constant through my whole pregnancy is chewing ice. I know it's horrible for my teeth and for anyone within an ears distance of me, but I can't help it, I have to crunch and crunch and crunch. I'm not anemic, I just like to crunch. It's like it relieves all the tension in my body and releases happy hormones or something. 

One odd side effect of this pregnancy is that Jaron's breath smells like carbon-monoxide to me. It is the oddest thing. I can't handle it. Even after he has just brushed and flossed his pearly whites, if he is within like 2 inches of me I have to roll over and breathe different air. Maybe he has taken up a new habit that I am not aware of. I'm joking. I'm joking. I blame it on the hormones not him. 

We all feel so excited for this baby to join our family. We are grateful to be having a little girl, though we would have been happy to have a boy too. I'm so happy that Liv is going to have a sister. I can't imagine life without my sisters.  

We have been spending most of our Saturdays organizing and finishing up household projects that have been undone for months now.  We have been spending most of our nights cozied up in our bed once the kids are down with our books about natural childbirth. I have learned so many great coping techniques that have already proven themselves worthy tools for overcoming or managing pain in my life. The power of visualization for example, of taking myself to a happy place in my head, when I'm experiencing pain or stress seems to work so well for me. As most pregnant women do I suppose, I find my conversations with my girlfriends revolving around pregnancy and childbirth. Everyone around me has been so supportive of my desire to go natural and have been buoying me up with great advice and making me feel like I really can do this.  

At my last doctor's appointment I was tested for Group B Strep. I was super bummed when I found out my results were positive. How on earth am I supposed to have a natural labor whilst hooked up to an IV. Furthermore, my desire to have a drug free labor is pretty much nullified if our new little baby has to be pumped with antibiotics.  After doing some research I have found some safer and better options than antibiotics for treating Group B Strep. I have been proactive with my health and have been taking probiotics, kefer, kambucha, and just generally trying to eat an alkaline diet.  I'm pretty sure I've probably nipped this one in the bud so I'm going to insist I be retested. Hospitals are not huge fans of naturopathic remedies for Group B, so even if I insist on them I will have to stay in the hospital for a longer time with the baby so that they can watch the baby to see if she is healthy. When I found out I was Group B strep positive, I was pretty close to ditching the whole hospital birth and finding myself a birth center, but I think I will just be assertive and stick with the hospital. After Olivia's traumatic birth it just makes me feel better to be there for my birth.

I have contractions all the time, so my gut feeling is that this baby is going to come early, but after having three kids, I know that is a very potentially dangerous assumption to have.  So I'm going to trick my body into thinking the baby is coming late that way I cover my bases. But I still won't be the least surprised if this baby comes early. 

I'm rambling.

I'll stop now. 

Good night. 

September in a Big Fat Nutshell

THE FAIR 

We had our annual fiddle performance at the fair and this year Warner got to be up on stage to sing and jump for the pop's in Pop Goes the Weasel.  Liv did awesome on her Boil the Cabbage solo. She looked so cute up there with her little braids, and cowboy boots. 

So, we kind of have a love/hate relationship with the fair, because A. It's SO tiring, and B. it has this miraculous ability to turn our otherwise pleasant children into little greedy monsters who want everything they see, which brings me to C. we just have to say "no" over and over again to all the copious amounts of colorful things that they desire, i.e. cotton candy and big fluffy purple unicorns etc etc. 

This year we told them we could do two rides each and then we just went and checked out the animals. I think next year, we will skip the four dollar-30 second thrill rides and just head straight for the show horses and piglets. 

 The little petting zoo was Buster's little dream land. 

 

 

He found this little goat, and just stood there by him for about ten minutes. It was the funniest thing. The goat stared at him, and Buster stared back. And neither moved a muscle.  The moral of the story is, if you need to calm your wiggly, little two year old down, purchase a goat. It works like magic. 

 

 

I felt a little empathy for this Mama pig, and a little jealous at the same time. Empathy because I too know what it's like to feel like a beached whale who just doesn't want to move. She looks like she couldn't use those legs even if she wanted to! I felt jealousy, because all that her little ten or eleven piglets require of her is milk, and she doesn't even have to move or get up to give it to them.  She just lies there eating bon bons, while her ten little piglets sporadically approach her, nuzzle in and find their food source.  After they eat, she cleans up no mess, she just continues lying there, and with out so much as a snort or a shove, they scoot along merrily back to their little crammed pig pen with their other siblings.  What a life. What a life. I think I'de have ten kids too if that's all it took. 

  

 

DAY of SERVICE 

Another annual: Our day of service. It usually is on Jaron's birthday, but luckily this year it wasn't. The kids had fun helping rake leaves and putting their shoulders to the wheel.  

The face of a true servant. And by true servant I of course mean one who helped by finding rolly polley's and digging holes in the dirt, and generally just entertaining himself so that Mom and Dad could actually work.  

JARON'S BIRTHDAY

We celebrated by going to the skate park with the Sooscrew. We surprised Olivia by picking her up from school and letting her skip for the day. She was pretty excited to get to celebrate Jaron's birthday with us. 

It was so fun to watch Jaron skate, and was such a gorgeous day. I'm glad he does things like this to keep himself young and healthy. I was impressed by how good he has gotten in the last year at skating. 

It was such a nice, hot day that after the Skatepark , we grabbed some comida and headed straight to the beach to swim. It was so gorgeous. We all five of us swam out to this doc that had bird poo all over it, but it didn't matter, cause we were all there together.

 

A TRIP TO THE ZOO

On another day in September, when Jaron was out of town I took the kids to the zoo. Watching the big grizzlies is always my favorite. When else can you watch such a huge, powerful, and terrifying animal from that close up with out fear flowing through your veins? It's fascinating to watch them. They really just look like big cuddly teddy bears. Really BIG cuddly teddy bears. 

 

 

The main highlight for Liv was seeing the baby giraffe whose Momma, named Olivia, is only six years old. Liv thought that was pretty ridiculous that she would have a baby so young.  

BUSTER PUTS THE MOVES ON

On another fine September day Buster decided to go in for the kill with little Emmy.  

Smooth Buster. Smooth. I just noticed Warner in the background puckering up. Ha. How funny.  

WARNER's FIRST DAY OF PRESCHOOL

And for the most exciting part of September; drum roll please, someone had his very first day of school! He was so excited. And I swear he was the cutest little pre-schooler I ever did see, but I might be a little biased. Look at that face.  After the first day of school he said "Mom. I love Miss Laura". I'm so glad he likes his teacher and likes pre-school. I think he likes feeling a little independence. It makes him feel big and grown up. Which makes me kind of sad/happy, but him really happy, so, it's worth it.  

BIRTHDAY PARTY FOR TEDDY

Warner and Buster got invited to their first-ever teddy bear birthday party. Yes it was a birthday party for a little teddy bear. And all I can say is, don't knock it til you've tried it, because it was so stinkin cute and fun.  

BAKING WITH BUSTER

Buster helped me make 15 loaves of zucchini bread for a primary teacher training. He mostly helped by being moral support and dipping his finger in the dough every once in awhile to make sure it tasted right.  

It was this face that got me through all that baking. 

GETTING READY FOR HALLOWEEN 

Some of us are more ready than others. I've now told Warner he can only ask me once a day how many days it is until Halloween.

We had this great idea that we were going to have Dorothy, a Lion, and a Tin man, but Tin Man refused to play the part. So, it looks like we are going to have Dorothy, a Lion, and Captain America. Se la vi. 

Oh and I guess he is going to be Captain America gone fire fighter. 

JARON's FIRST TOUGH MUDDER RACE

And this has now become the longest post in the world. For the last picture (this actually happened in October) Jaron and his good buddy Sam, an old roomie from our BYU-HI days, and Sam's buddy Dave, all ran in the Tough Mudder race. 

The course is an 11 mile obstacle course challenge. As a participant you jump over big logs, climb up big half pipes, army crawl up muddy tunnels, run through electric wires, and run in the mud for 11 miles. Why any one would ever pay money to run through electric wires is quite beyond me, but I figure it's just a testosterone versus estrogen difference there. I'm just happy that this race got my boy back into running. He was made to run. Seriously. Look how tough they all look.

The end.
Whew.
Time for bed.
Happy October friends. 

Today

In the words of John Denver "Some Days are diamonds, some days are stone". I won't go into the details of why it was a stony day, because I kind of just want to forget about them. And because if I'm honest with myself and think about my hard things, I know full well that they really are just first world problems. Even though I know that, I still let myself have a nice good cry today.

I think pregnancy changes me. I feel more teary. I feel tired. I feel maxed out. The last couple weeks I feel like I'm falling behind on everything.  I'm sure it's partly hormonal, but by the time 1:00 hits I'm so tired I can barely keep my body moving. That's part of the reason I'm falling behind, because if I don't nap for a few minutes every afternoon I feel awful and short tempered.

I wish I could just force my body to keep going "Move body! Move. You have things to do." I don't know if it's because I'm almost 30 or if it's just because it's my fourth pregnancy, but for whatever reason my body feels exhausted. Probably has something to do with the fact that instead of enjoying REM I enjoy RALAMWAPFTAN in other words rolling around like a mad woman and peeing five times a night.

At the dinner table tonight, I was trying my best to put on a smile and seem energetic, but I couldn't help it, when it was my turn at the table to say my favorite and worst part of the day, I kind of went off a little about all the worsts. I don't normally have a worst, but today I had plenty, and I just vented it out to my family. After dinner was over Liv quietly walked up to me, handed me a little note with a one dollar bill and then walked away. This is what her note said "I am sory I orgyood (argued) with you. I love you Mom".

Seriously? What a doll. It was so sweet it made me cry. Especially knowing how careful she is about saving her precious money. The dollar is from the tooth fairy money and has been something she has been saving for a LONG time. She said she wants to save it until she goes to college, unless of course her Mom has a little break down and then she gives it away happily. What a sweetheart. I tell you, sometimes the rough days are all the sweeter when they bring out genuine love and sweet acts like this.

After dinner, Jaron put the kids down, and I went for a walk with my neighbor. We had such a great talk. We talked a lot about life. I was able to share my testimony about some things I love and feel strongly about. I could feel the spirit in our conversation.  I felt rejuvenated and good when we got done.

I'm still tired, but I feel better. I'm grateful for good friends. I'm grateful for sweet children, and for the best husband in the world. I guess now that I think about it, maybe today was a diamond after all. Maybe the stony parts had to happen just so I could recognize the diamonds in my life.

Buster just walked up to me and with his serious low voice and eyebrows raised said "I got my feet". I said "You got your feet?" He said "Yea, I got my feet". And waddled away. I'm so glad he has his feet.

Domestic Life Scribbles

These scribbles are the "WORTH IT" part of being a Momma. 

Scribble #1. Bed time with Buster. He's by far my biggest snuggle bug. At any given moment if I simply say the words "I hold you" and reach out my arms, he will let me pick him up and snuggle his little tan face into the crook of my neck. If I'm really lucky he'll drape his arms around my neck and rub my back lovingly while I hold him. 

The camera was out, so we took some silly pictures right before bed. They are blurry, and we both look like we are ready for bed, but they show his cute personality so I'm posting them. 

Scribble #2. This girl is a doll. She just is. And now that she has lost a tooth, and has aquired quite the little lisp because of it, she is even more of a doll. She made the fortunate mistake of saying to me "Look how wiggly my tooth is Mom" to which I said "Cool! Let me see" Yank! She didn't even know what happened. She has yet to put it under her pillow, because she wants to spend some time composing a card to the tooth fairy as she always does when she loses teeth. The contents of these cards always ask for permission to keep the tooth, and end with a flattering compliment to the tooth fairy just to win her over. "And by the way you are so pretty etc etc".  I guess the flattery works with this tooth fairy, because she has yet to fly away with any of this little doll's teeth.

Scribble #3. This little hooligan, though not the quickest to obey, sure is happy once I can finally get him to do what he is supposed to be doing.

Scribble #4.  I believe this is the best haircut I have ever given my son, so I had to document it. Now don't look too closely. If you're actually a professional don't look at all, but I've come along way, which is to say that in my desire to be economical I have had to make some unfortunate mistakes on the boys in this family in order to learn what I'm doing. Whew. There's been some doozies. Poor boys.

 Scribble #5. Today we made Jaron his favorite dinner since it is his birthday week; grilled fajitas, with a salad. Then for dessert chocolate cake. The kids decided to surprise him with a few love notes to start the dinner off right. Liv even snuck some cookies out of the pantry and placed them on Dad's chair. Then she turned to us and exclaimed "Don't sit on your chair Dad, you might crunch something". Underneath two oreos this is what he found:

 Translation: "Dear Dad, I love you so much. I hope your back will get better (his back has been really hurting him). You are the cookie of my heart. To Dad". Then below it says "Olivia! Dad! (Star) Cookie of my heart. Ah that sweet little thing. See what I mean. Doll.

Here's Warner's love note:

When Jaron first opened Warner's note he said "I love your whale Warner" to which Warner said solemnly "It's not a whale Dad it's a heart". Except it sounded so much cuter than that, because he still doesn't quite say his r's. He then promptly grabbed the hard ran out of the room and quietly said "But I think I will turn it into a whale". He came back with this as the final product.

One more random scribble.
Scribble #6. 
The other day while driving in the car Warner was going on and on about a dream he had. It was getting harder and harder to pay attention, especially for J who was driving and trying to focus on the road, so was not being as responsive as Warner's attention demanded. . . hmm wonder where he gets that from. Anyway, finally Jaron said "Ok Warner just give me the high points". To which Warner paused for a second, took a big breath, and then began to continue on in the highest voice he could muster "And so" said in a falsetto that could have easily been mistaken for a voice that speaks after inhaling helium.

We laughed so hard we cried.