Monday, December 31, 2018

2018 in retrospect

     Well it seems like I waited to the last possible moment to write this. I thought about writing this last week but it was like note that Year's not over yet so you waited all week and then I was going to ride earlier but I got distracted.

     This year has been really an emotional rollercoaster. And as I get older every year seems like it's the worst year that can't get harder but somehow it does. And then I realized we always get through it. We are here today you know and that's thanks to the people around us thanks to friends and family supporting us and thanks to Heavenly Father watching over us.
     If you've been following my blog this year yeah I write sporadically and I'm not constantly up-to-date and I'm sorry about that but Amber got pregnant and we found out this time last year. And very shortly after that found out she had gallstones. So that was a trial and a half in itself. And then one day when she was at the doctors I think for her surgery for the gallstones I broke my ankle at the hospital. So this summer wasn't fun for us but we had just started going back to church and they have been so nice helping us for the past year I don't know where we'd be if it wasn't for Ambers coworkers and the church.
     And then baby Carter came. And it is just both really awesome and a trial in and self taking care of a new baby and a 4 year old girl. But Livia loves her baby brother so much. We're really blessed with how much she loves and cares for him. It is just amazing to see her eyes filled with so much love for him. And then in September we got in a car accident. Really scared all of us, but we are all fine and none of us got majorly injured. Which I thank God everyday for because It could've turned out really bad but it didnt.
     And speaking of church Amber and I were once again called to be primary workers. And then Amber was just recently called to be counselor for the young women's. Which she is really excited about and she has always wanted to be part of the young women's program in church. And I love teaching kids in Church. There is just something about a child's eyes when they get scriptural Doctrine. And you can see them understand what they are being taught. It's a blessing in itself to know that the children understand. And to see them growing in their faith it's just amazing.
     Christmas came and went and I turned 32. And I don't know it feels different. When I had my 30th birthday it was kind of depressed because can I was turning 30 and I have no degree no Career no prospects under my belt and all my friends and I have no degree no Creer no prospects under my belt and all my friends I went to HighSchool with we're having you know really good jobs and good careers and they're just amazing and I'm proud of them. But then I graduated in 2017 with my AAS in paralegal studies. And this year I have a plan to go back to school and get my bachelor's most likely in Justice studies whith the emphasis of criminal justice. So hopefully that will only take me two more years if not a little bit longer will be fine. And I may or may not it depends on a lot of things but I may go to law school.

    So this next year we'll have a different set of challenges but I think we are ready to face them. And I just love my family. They are the best support system a man can ask for. I wish you all a Happy New Years and may this one bring you happiness.

Tuesday, December 18, 2018

This is a PSA to any Nintendo switch owners out there

If you have had your switch for a while then you are probably aware of the drifting joycon problem. And if you have not experienced it you will. It is not a question of if you will it is a matter of when you will. It is a design flaw of sorts of the Nintendo Joy con.

If you look at the joy con joystick underneath it is a little rubber flap that you can pull up with a Q-tip or something small and up this is very easy to trap dust particles hair and skin. And this is what causes the drifting joystick issue. But there is a simple remedy. Don't be like me and shell out sixty bucks for new joycons only for them to fall prey to the same issue. And I was also getting ready to purchase a wired Pro Controller because I was tired of these issues. But like I said there was a simple remedy a simple and easy fix.

All you have to do is get a Q-tip and some rubbing alcohol lightely dab the Q-tip in the rubbing alcohol and then apply it gently to your joycon. Get all around the inside of it and try to gently lift up the rubber flap and get underneath it because that is where the sensors are. If you do this properly it will fix your drifting joycon issue. If it doesn't there is something wrong with your joycon and it will need to be repaired or replace.

yes there are many many videos and blogs about this subject already but I felt like one more wouldn't hurt. :-)

Saturday, September 1, 2018

Coconino County Fair

We went to Flagstaff for a checkup for baby Carter and he's perfectly healthy wonderful baby boy. The doctor had some reservations about his health but he's doing fine Olivia at the same problems but she's doing fine and almost every other baby I know has had weight gain Problems 2 weeks after birth but they're all okay so we're not worried. So we went to the fair and it was fun. When we got there we immediately got lunch and sat down to eat but we were sitting by a live band that was really freaking loud so we moved to another seating area and we got to watch a magic show and it was actually pretty cool. I mean this magician he seem corny at 1st and like whatever but he did some things I never seen for. And that is just crazy. Then we walked around looked at a bunch of vendors and stuff and then we took Livy to the rides. The first ride she went on was a little kids roller coaster it just goes around in a circle but it goes really fast and Livvie did not like it she was holding on to the bars like White Knuckles and she was so freaking scared and she gets off and she goes I did not like that at all. Me and Amber are mean parents we were laughing at her. But then she went on like four or five other rides and it was really neat seeing her getting to the cars herself buckling up herself enjoying herself I'm so fun. Then Amber Olivia and Grandma shell went to see the animals and they had a whole bunch. But my back was hurting so much and I cannot stand so I sat down with baby Carter and that they looked at all the animals. But they brought a couple by us cuz their pens were right behind where I was sitting and I got to see a couple of llamas and alpacas and camel couple other animals cool. And we're sitting right across from some very fluffy geese. I've never seen Keys like that before. And then only if I got to ride a pony and I'm sad that I wasn't there to take pictures but that's okay I was with Carter and I was holding him and cuz he was crying and singing to him if it was a bonding moment for me and Carter I think. And then we got some more snacks and headed home. It was a great day.



 Cowboy boot drink cup and kettle corn.
Also had deep fried oreos those were good.

 Livvy wanted this specific horse which was by other people so we couldn't get a good picture of just her there were like 30 other horses that were available by themselves...





 She really wanted the pink whale but some other girls got their first


This is living at her baby brother check up and she's reading a book. She loves reading I love that she loves reading. Anyone that knew me growing up I always had a book in my hand and one in my pocket.


Thursday, August 23, 2018

A very big thank you

Amber and I would just like to thank everyone who is helped out in some part for the past few months. Ever since Amber found out she was pregnant things have been really hard on us and yet everyone has helped us out and we have found a way to make things work. I want to thank that church for their help I want to thank Amber's work and all her work friends for their help and want to thank my family our family and friends for all your help. It has not gone unnoticed and definitely not unappreciated. We love all you guys. I feel like some of you went over and above and I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I know Olivia Amber and Carter all appreciate everything you have done for us. I only hope one day we can pay it forward and help someone else out.

Friday, August 17, 2018

Baby Carter Derek

This year has definately been an emotional roller coaster. Last November Amber started getting real sick, we found out a few days after Christmas she was pregnant and thought her sickness was morning sickness. But as her pain got worse and she was hardly eating normally we found out she had gallbladder stones. After waiting months for insurance to go through she had surgery to remove the gallbladder bladder and we were told that the stones were so big and so bad that had she waited another week she and the baby could have died.

So we started planning for the baby, every day Olivia and the girls I babysit would ask Amber questions about the baby and it was so cute. Livvy is so excited to be a big dister.

We all kind of thought he would be here early, but this guys a Jarnagan- we make our own schedules. The ob scheduled her induction at 7:30 Wednesday. We live at the Grand Canyon and the nearest hospital is in Flagstaff and that's an hour and a half away; so we had to get up at 5am just to get ready to go.

We got here and they started the induction process and again we all thought he would pop out anytime soon. She was progressing slowly. When we got here she was dialated to a 2, and by like 11 almost to a 4. And she stayed like that for a bit. We were getting disappointed because we knew it was going to be a long day, I made some friends and family mad because I was getting grumpy it was a very long day. I'm really sorry if I made you mad.

But then at like 3:30 the ob checked her, she was at a 4 still so he broke her water and about half an hour later the nurse started her on the pitocin.


A couple hours later the doctor came back in and wanted to check again, he asked what we thought Amber said maybe a 5, I was thinking maybe a 6 but he said well how about a 10. I thought he was joking, but he was serious. He said this baby is ready to come out. She punched maybe 6 times, and he was out. I got to cut the cord, that was interesting. The cord is a leathery slimy tough thing but I did it.

Olivia was jumping around in here, so excited to meet her baby brother. The nurses were laughing at her enthusiasm. It was so cute. She got to hold him for a bit, Amber said something like ok I want him back but Olivia said you had a turn mommy, it's my turn. Lol.

 Carter Derek Jarnagan
 8/15/18 8:31pm
 7lbs 9ozs





Saturday, May 26, 2018

Long update... its been that kind of year...

    Sorry for the long break, things have been rather hectic here and I always forget to update when I have a moment to do so. Since December I have been baby sitting a couple of little kids (they turned 1 and 3 this year) 5 days a week and they keep me busy. Plus I have to keep an eye on my nephews and niece when they're here. So I rarely have any free time, and when I do I use it to relax.
     Last winter Amber was sicker than a dog, she was not having fun during Thanksgiving or Christmas. When New Years eve arrived I had asked my brother in Law Luis to pick us up a pregnancy test, also the girls at Ambers work had questions too... So Luis brought us one and she took it, we found out we are having another child. Olivia was (still is) so excited. Amber still getting sick and everyone thought it was the usual morning sickness so we weren't really worried.
     Olivia tries to kiss the baby everyday and the baby she loves him or her. But amber kept having these attacks that leave her in pain for 6 or 9 hours at a time. She was at this point well into the second trimester so we knew it wasn't morning sickness. So she made a couple of calls and made appointments to see what the problem was. I think she had an attack so bad she went to emergency room, I can't really remember. She found out it was a gallbladder issue and she had some gall stones. This explained why she was getting so sick. So they scheduled a surgery date to remove the gallbladder.
    Now when Amber told me this my mind started racing. I started thinking of the million things that could go wrong. I'm kind of a worry wort, and I had to push those fears down. The surgeon told her that the second trimester is the perfect time to get it removed, the baby is small enough and in the right position that they could do it with out cutting the belly open, They make 4 or 5 small incisions and go in those and pull the bladder out. He also told her that the risk to the baby is incredibly small and that he has done this surgery on many pregnant ladies. I mean, I felt a little better but was still worrying about the many things that could go wrong.
     So the scheduled the surgery 3 weeks out... which we didn't understand because if this was a thing that had to happen sooner rather than later why the wait? But Amber changed her diet and for the most part avoided the attacks. We have been eating a lot of frozen food Livvy and I, because its not fair for me to cook something that Amber cant eat. Now we come to the week before surgery and the Hospital calls Amber that they need to reschedule the surgery. Her OB was out of town the following week so the scheduled it for the week after. 2 more weeks... Amber and I were pissed. It may not seem like that big of a deal, but Amber is pregnant. She needs to eat for the baby to be healthy and this diet was driving her insane- no fats, no grease, just plain chicken, rice and cheerios basically.
     Amber is in her 28th week. Almost 29th, and we went to the hospital on Thursday for her surgery. The OB, the Surgeon and Anesthesiologists all came in to talk us through what would happen and that it should be easy. We overheard the surgeon say he just needs a note from the OB telling him something, but the OB wanted to be in there monitoring the baby. They took Amber back and I almost lost it, I was freaking out so bad. Michelle (ambers mom) took me  to get lunch and to calm down while Amber was in there. After an hour we went back and when we got to the waiting room the OB was already there waiting for us, looking for us. Needless to say my heart dropped for a second. All those years of watching medical shows didn't adequately prepare me for this.
     But it was all good news, he told us the baby did fine. He was moving around a lot so they had to move the monitors around a lot but he was fine. Then the surgeon came in and told us that everything went fine, they found more stones so they did a quick x-ray found her gallbladder filled with stones he told us so it definitely needed to come out. Michelle took me to get a haircut, which I haven't had in a while. We got back to the hospital at like 430 I think, mind you I hadn't used the restroom all day so I told Michelle I was going to use the restroom and ill meet her in the waiting room.
     I opened the door to the restroom, it was big and heavy and swung back fast- it knocked me off balance, I twisted my ankle and fell down. I was screaming in pain and people probably thought I was crazy... they got a wheelchair for me and advised me to go to the emergency department. I didn't think it was that bad, I wanted to see Amber so I told Michelle that I think its ok lets just go to the waiting room and wait. When we got there I wanted to check my foot, so I took off my shoe and tried to take off the brace but the pain was just to bad. If you don't know I wear AFO's (ankle-foot orthotics) to help me walk. The pain was so bad when I moved it that I told Michelle I think I need to have it checked out.
     Long story short I broke my ankle. If I didn't have those braces it could have been a lot worse. I then told Michelle about the bad feeling I had about Ambers surgery and she said the bad feeling wasn't about her, it was about you (me). So Amber and I are fine, they gave me a walking boot/brace for me foot and that works. I'm trying to take care of Amber the best I can.


Pray for us.
Thank you.
~The Jarnagans
    

Thursday, March 29, 2018

My big brother... A great example

     I have always looked up to and admired my big brother Matt. From a young age he was always someone I wanted to be like. When he was in high school he was very involved with church and leader of the Christian Club and I tried as hard as I could to be involved and even was President of the Christian club at my high school. My musical career was taking off and I was enjoying that so much I didnt have as much time as I should have had to devote to church.
     During my highschool years he joined the army, and while I was very proud of him I was scared because he had joined a few months (or a year) prior to 9/11. He was sent over seas to Bahrain and I thought and prayed about him daily. I needed my big brother. Then in 2006 I was in the car accident and I wanted him to be there for me. By this time he was home and married, so we would hang out a lot. But I remember him asking me while I was in rehab if I would be mad if he moved. I forget my exact words i told him but, I believe it was on the lines of go ahead, take care of your family. I missed him but he needed to worry about his life- not his gimpy brother.
     Over the years we stayed in contact but naturally we drifted apart. Eventually I got married and now my wife is pregnant with our second child, Matt has now 3 kids and he is an awesome dad. I see him with his kids and its just amazing- I try to be a good father and I know it's bad to compare yourself to others but I can't help it. He is an amazing example for his kids and for others to look up to.
     He been very involved with their church and has been working, studying, and praying hard and tonight he obtained his license to preach. That is amazing and really awesome. I am really proud of Matt.

Wednesday, March 7, 2018

Just another day

     Sorry for the no updates in the past couple weeks nothing really new as been going on. Since Christmas babies I'm watching I've been sick with things and livius been sick with different things and I've been sick with different things do that's just going around. So that's fun and I'm getting over a cold right now my voice is very raspy. But that's okay because it is just okay LOL. Nothing really new is been going on so nothing really to update... Olivia's been invited to a few different birthday parties like every other weekend for the past month or two. It's pretty exciting for her she gets to actually have friends and go places that is really awesome. And it's March and yeah it snowed last week... Didn't use the weather up here it's going to take a while. Next week is spring break and live his cousins don't have school so they will be here. Yay for me right everyday I'll be watching like almost 6 or 7 kids yay there goes the house... Trying to think of anything else that's going on and I can't really think of any thank you for reading this I'm sorry not a real big update. I'll try better next time.

Tuesday, February 6, 2018

Time Goes On

     12 years. I cannot believe it has been 12 years. You see 12 years ago my life pretty much ended. I was in a horrible car accident and several doctors had told people that I would never walk again or even you know be successful at anything. But 12 years later I think I have proved people wrong.
     I took my first couple steps like a week and a half after waking up in the therapy rehab Hospital. Talk about pain I mean that was probably the worst pain ever using muscles that have been atrophied in after laying down for 9 weeks. But anyways I went home after a few months went to outpatient rehab and was walking on Walker shortly after I'm was going to school part time and going to rehab that was my life for a bit. Then I decided to move in with Amber and get married and then we moved to Indiana put my plans on hold for a bit. But then we moved back to Arizona, where my wife Amber gave birth to a beautiful baby girl Olivia. I went back to school to get my associates of applied science in paralegal studies. This year I'm planning to get my bachelors well at least start on my bachelors it will take two years maybe three. But yeah I'm using a cane to get around everywhere and people thought I would use that Walker for the rest of my life.
     I know I have said all of this before it sounds like a repeat you guys probably get tired of it but every year I'm just amazed how much my life has changed for the better and I'm pretty sure that Amber's life is better for it and we now have a daughter that we just love  and we have another baby on the way.
     I want to thank my family and friends for always being supportive and telling me I can do it I want to thank my teachers for pushing me on whatever small way they did and my past teachers that I still talk to you guys are awesome. I want to thank all my therapist because without your help I would not come this far. And yes I give thanks to God for helping me realize I need to push myself and being there for me.
     I have big plans for the future and I only hope I get to do them but first i'm going to tackle this bachelor's degree and see if I get it LOL. I want to thank you for reading this yes you thank you.

Thursday, January 25, 2018

Good news!

     So those of you who don't know my wife Amber is pregnant with our second child. This came is a little bit of a shock to us because all of November and December we were all sick with the cold and viruses going around and Amber was sick worse than I've seen her in a while... So about Christmas if we everyone is questioning is she sick or is she pregnant? So we our brother-in-law go to town and pick us up a pregnancy test and some Martinelli's sparkling cider for New Year's. And then protect the test that day and she was in the bathroom and her just go oh my god really loud. I was in the kitchen and I was like are you okay are you okay please don't hurt me please don't hurt me. But yeah we found out she was pregnant and that's why she was sick and to celebrate we had that bottle of sparkling cider LOL it didn't last until New Year's.
     So that was just an extra Christmas present to all of us and to my mother-in-law has been asking for a new baby from us for a while so I guess me and Michelle got our wish and Amber's not happy at all. When she was pregnant with Olivia she was really sick and not functioning at all is pretty much a horrible pregnancy, a few weeks ago Amber was feeling good she wasn't getting sick and she was really having any pregnancy symptoms and she said you know I feel really good and me had to open my big mouth I said maybe you can enjoy this pregnancy and you can have fun this time around. I think I jinxed her because since then she has been sick as a dog everyday and one day she was really sick and her sister said if she doesn't get better by midnight I'm taking her to the hospital. Thankfully she got better that night and she hasn't been really bad since just throwing up and feeling dizzy and nauseous really bad.
     Olivia is freaking excited she cannot wait to be a big sister period every day she tells the baby I love you I can't wait to meet you. She is going to be a great big sister. So while we all wait for the news I will be here taking care of Amber and making sure she gets the rest and what not that she needs. She always tells me thank you for everything you do and I'm like I hardly do anything...
     So that's all I guess until it we know more then I'll post more we love you guys and thank you.
~The Jarnagans