This Is Us

 

 

I have been persuaded to start a blog by a few of my new-found friends, so here goes nothing! I'm Olivia; nurse, student, and most importantly, wife of Kevin and mother to Kyan, Tucker, and Jaxon, my three wonderful boys! I am 30 years old and originally from Vernal, Utah, currently residing in Williston, North Dakota.

 

 

The Hiatts 2012

I realize this photo is somewhat outdated. We got family photos done before we moved but I haven't gotten them from my mother-in-law yet. Maybe I'll remember over Thanksgiving...

 

So since I have no clue what to write today, I will start by telling a little about myself and my little family. As stated before, I was born and raised (mostly) in Vernal, Utah. I graduated from Uintah High School in 2001 with hopes of becoming a nurse. Fast forward 2 years and I still wasn't....no one to blame but myself and some good choices, some bad choices. The assisted living facility where I had worked as an aide for almost three years was closing up shop, so I was in need of another job. I applied at Wal-Mart thinking it would keep me busy while I completed the nursing assistant program. Lo and behold, the job at Walmart led me down a path to my future!

 

 

Kevin and I met while we were both working at Walmart in Vernal. He tried to pull rank and made me help him do some work I didn't really want to be doing. I remember thinking, "Who does this guy think he is??" Little did I know...

With a smooth line from Kevin in the form of "We should talk more. But I don't talk on an empty stomach..." No joke. I fell for it in October 2003, he bought a ring before Thanksgiving 2003, and he proposed in December 2003 at Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah. We were married a year later on December 11, 2004. I realize the engagement was long but the courtship was short, plus we both got promoted and transferred to SLC to open a brand new Walmart.

 

The first year and a half of marriage was HARD. Much harder than I realized it would be. At times I wondered if we had made a huge mistake. I liked to argue, he didn't. He was the ultimate workaholic, I was the party fun-lovin' girl. He worked nights as an assistant store manager for Wal-Mart in American Fork, I managed the domestics, furniture, and stationery department in downtown SLC.

 

 February 2006 changed all this. I found out we were pregnant. We were in the midst of a dilemma. We couldn't afford to have me stay home and take care of a baby, but we couldn't afford day care, either. Our hometown was in the midst of another oil boom and in desperate need of employees everywhere. Despite Kevin's adamant feelings against working in the oil field--his dad had worked for Schlumberger for 20+ years at this point, so he knew the kind of hours expected--Kev applied at Schlumberger and was hired on. We gave notice to Walmart that Kevin was quitting and I was transferring to Vernal, packed up the house we had just purchased in West Jordan in October 2005, got it rented, and moved in with his parents in Vernal. I continued to work at Walmart for a few months until I quit in July.

 

Kyan Meril Hiatt

7 lbs 13 oz 19 in 10:17pm October 9, 2006

 

Our lives were changed forever! I loved being a mom! I started going back to school when Kyan was 3 months old. I completed the nursing assistant course at the local tech college and was hired at the old assisted living facility I previously worked at. It had been purchased by a great ward member who knew I had worked there before. He hired me with intentions of moving me to the new facility he was building to be the assistant manager, a job I started in June 2007. I loved my job and the residents I cared for. I re-enrolled at Utah State University Uintah Basin to complete the nursing pre-requisites.

 

Life was fairly smooth and rolling along when we found out in November 2008 that Kyan was going to be a big brother!

Tucker Douglas Hiatt

6 lbs 4.8 oz 19 in  2:34pm June 24, 2009

Tucker was born at 37 weeks exactly and had some trouble with his lungs. He was put on CPAP and oxygen overnight while I spent a horrible sleepless night worrying over him. He was fine but grunted in his sleep for 3 months, sounding just like a goat. The night he finally quit, we both rushed to the cradle to make sure he was breathing!

 

Our family of four was doing pretty well. Kevin had quit Schlumberger in December 2007 to work for Flint Energy. He worked for them until he was laid off 5 weeks after Tucker was born. I had quit my job as assistant manager at Beehive Homes when I started having horrible pain while carrying Tucker. I called my former boss in tears and told him if he had any openings, I needed a job in a desperate way. Lo and behold, he also needed someone desperately. Off to the store I went to purchase a breast pump; I started work the next day. Thankfully, Kevin was hired by Savage Services 3 weeks later in August 2009 and has been with the company ever since.

 

I had FINALLY successfully completed all the pre-reqs required and applied to the nursing program at the Uintah Basin Applied Technology College in 2010. I got my acceptance letter on July 9, a day I needed good news more than ever (more about that later.) I gave notice at Beehive again because the program is intense and I didn't think I would be able to work, attend school, and be a mom, even though I had been doing that exact thing for almost 4 years now.

 

Time was fairly flying by. Kevin was happily working at Savage, Kyan was attending preschool, Tucker was a chunky, happy toddler, and I was an insanely busy student in a 9 month accelerated nursing program and LOVING every second! I had worked so hard for it and was so close to obtaining my goal. Kev and I had everything planned for the next 5 years or so until someone got strep throat in December 2010 and someone forgot antibiotics can decrease the effectiveness of birth control....yep, we were pregnant again! The moment we found out had to be the most expensive pregnancy test ever. I had been having issues with ovarian cysts and my doc finally decided surgery was the answer. I'm chilling in pre-op, IV running, when the nurses come back with the routine urine HCG they do on all women of child bearing age...positive! This threw a slight wrench in our plans but I was happy nonetheless. The ovarian pain never went away and at 12 weeks the pain increased significantly. My doc ordered me to modified bed rest and urged me to quit the nursing program I was 8 weeks away from finishing. In my heart I knew if I finished, the baby would be fine. We worked out a schedule where I could attend class full time and do half time clinical hours if need be. In the end, all the struggles, studying, cramming, all-nighters, 12 hours on your feet numerous clinicals, tears, fun, and frustration were worth it!!

Graduation May 20, 2011 almost 20 weeks pregnant with our third son

 

I took the Utah state licensing nursing exam and passed in July 2011. My former boss at Beehive called and hired me as the nurse at the home around the corner from my house. I started working there 4 days before I gave birth.

 

 

Jaxon Richard Hiatt

7 lbs 12.9 oz 20 in 11:22am September 27, 2011

 

Our family was finally complete. I love mothering my family of boys. I remember all the struggles I had with my mother and I honestly do not know if I know how to raise a girl. I continued working at Beehive Homes as a nurse, attending more college classes to further my degree. Kevin was climbing the ladder at Savage and kept being sent to help out in Williston, North Dakota. He was gone most of November and December 2012. He got sent back to ND in February 2013 and come home with an awesome promotion offer! After a lot of discussion and planning, we came to the conclusion that moving to ND was the right choice. Kev left Utah in March and I stayed behind to finish out Kyan's kindergarten year and Tucker's first year of preschool. I thought being apart for 4 months wouldn't be so hard but it was some of the longest months of my life! Being a single mother was difficult! We were finally reunited June 28, 2013 after the longest 3 day move up to Williston. I drove the car alone with the 3 boys...that drive alone is a whole other story!

 

Anyway, that basically brings us to now. We are in a pretty good routine up here, Kyan loves attending first grade and Tucker goes to preschool Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Jaxon is a little lost on those days because he adores his older brothers. We attend church in a great ward full of great people. Halloween was fun and now we are looking forward to spending Thanksgiving with family in Utah and planning to make Christmas memories of our own in the frozen land that is North Dakota.

 

Halloween 2013

 

I apologize for such a long post! That is us in a nutshell. There are a few experiences to elaborate on in future posts. It's November, so remember to give thanks and be grateful for the things we have!