Ward Christmas dinner pictures with Santa

 

The Ward Christmas dinner was so fun this year. At the end the kids got to see Santa. Joel went up to the line with Nathan, but Julianna and Blake wanted nothing to do with him, until we noticed they were giving out presents to all the kids, and candy canes! So I finally convinced them, and Blake actually sat on his lap, and told us later that his beard looked really weird. Julianna wanted me to go with her and make sure to tell Santa she wanted a Barbie doll--she wouldn't go near him. But they each got a really cute toy to take home! And it was Nathan's first time, and he looked very confused, but not scared at all. His hair looks so red in these pictures!

Julianna turns 10!

 

We have a 10 year old now! Julianna turned the big 1-0 on December 6th. In the morning, I let her open her first present, a new school outfit. She really wanted a jean jacket and skirt, but I could only find a jacket at Target, so got her a new shirt and pants instead. Her class sang happy birthday and ate the cookies she brought in. Since it was her turn for a party this year, she decided to go to Build-a-Bear for the first time and she was allowed to invite one friend, so she chose Raegan from church, her "best friend" who is always so nice to her. Right after school we headed to the mall for our first Build-a-Bear experience. I loved how cute everything was there! Julianna chose a Rainbow Dash My Little Pony. We then came back home for pizza, cake and rootbeer floats, and presents. She got two more Rainbow Dash toys and cute books from Raegan. Then we invited Raegan to spend the night, and she seemed excited, but around 9:30 she looked sad, and told me she really wanted to go home because she hadn't seen her family since before school that day (they go to the same school). So her dad came to pick her up, and of course Julianna was really sad, but she eventually got over it. And we all cuddled as a family, watched a movie, and for the first time ever, ended up ALL falling asleep downstairs. It was pretty funny when I woke up in the middle of the night, wondering what happened! Julianna had a great birthday, and we really can't believe we have a big 10 year old!

Nathan turns 1!

 

Nathan turned 1 on December 5th! His first year went by so fast, and we are so happy to have him in our home. He is getting so expressive, and smart! He knows how to get his blanket when I ask him, he started taking lots of steps and is very close to walking all the time, he knows how to wave bye bye, he eats pretty much everything, he knows "all gone" and puts out his hands, he's starting to point things out for us, and overall he's a super happy, fun little baby. On his birthday, we had a cake from Stater Bros (free for babies' 1st) and let him play with his new present, a play table. I think the older kids play with it more than he does! We just love Nathan, and are so glad this first year is done, considering what we have been through with him and his cleft palate. We feel so blessed that he doesn't have any delays or other abnormalities, since many babies with cleft palate do. He is loved by all who meet him.

Thanksgiving at Nana's

 

This year we spent Thanksgiving with Grandma Shaw and Grandpa Tony, and Great-Nana in Santa Ana. The kids love coming here! We got there the day before Thanksgiving, and had a triple-birthday celebration since their birthdays are so close together. It was fun to see Nathan dig into a cupcake for the first time! The next day we had a relaxing Thanksgiving, first going to El Toro Memorial to visit Joel's dad and sister's gravesite, and to see the angel of hope statue. I was touched seeing all the gravemarkers of tiny children and infants, and talked to the kids about it, and how sad it would be to lose a baby brother or sister. We found many with temples engraved on them. Then we came back and had a nice dinner, and a visit with Joel's uncle Kevin and aunt Marie. And after much debate, Joel and I decided to race off to Wal-Mart to get a flat screen TV for $98! We waited for about an hour, and they ran out of stock but guaranteed the price, so a few days ago we picked it up, and we love it! The day after Thanksgiving I had a bad cold, so I stayed home while Nathan napped and Joel went with his mom and the kids to Deseret Book. It was a great visit to Nana's house!

Blake turns 7!

November 16th, we celebrated his 7th birthday. We do parties for our kids every other year, and this year was not his turn for a party. But we tried to make it special for him by cooking his favorite breakfast: scrambled eggs, bacon, and hash browns. He then got to play Minecraft for a while, his favorite new game. We then headed to Wendy's for lunch, and then Gamestop so he could spend his birthday money from Grandma Maxwell. He chose a new game for his DS, Super Mario 64. After we got home, we had ice cream cone cakes and opened his presents from us; a beyblade stadium with a beywarrior, some new Star Wars Legos, and a Lego Ningago cards/figure set. He loved all his presents! Because it was a cooler day, we got some firewood and after eating pizza for dinner, we made a fire in the fireplace and enjoyed that. It was a great day, and I think he liked it. The next morning he asked if he could turn back time so he could have another day like his birthday. We didn't make him clean his room before he played video games, and he was super excited about that! We sure love Blake, and love his spunky personality and quick wit.

Nathan is 11 months old!

Only one more month and Nathan will be a year old! Where has the time gone? This month he has learned to clap his hands, wave to people, stand on his own, and crawl and climb at super speed. At his ENT appointment today, he passed the hearing test with flying colors, and she loved all the new sounds he is making. And the best part was seeing him weigh in at over 18 pounds!! He has gained over 2 pounds in less than 2 months. I am so happy about this. He's gone up to almost the 5th percentile, and I'm sure it will only go up from here, because he LOVES to eat. His favorite is cinnamon toast and yogurt in the morning, a PB&J sandwich and fruit at lunch, and dinner, he'll eat whatever we have, usually. We love our Nathan!

Nathan is 10 months old!

I can't believe Nathan is 10 months old now! So many firsts this months to report:

Two bottom teeth coming in, pulling up on everything and starting to cruise better, saying mama/a-gah/a-bah, holding onto something and letting go with one hand, crawling on all fours now (no more army crawling), eating pretty much everything (his favorite this week was the filling to some burritos I made) and feeding himself...I'm sure there are more but that's all I can think of for now. He definitely knows who I am and screams everyday when I come to get him from the gym. He even says "mama" sometimes when he wants me or is tired. And he started getting his first teeth on the bottom at the end of Sept! He is just so much fun! So full of energy and on the move constantly, still not napping really well but going to bed by 7, which is nice. We love Nathan!

By the way, my other kids are still alive and doing well. Just busy with school and homework routine!

Nathan is 9 months old!

 

 

 

 

Well, Nathan is officially 9 months old! Time sure is going fast. He is almost 3 weeks post-surgery, and getting better by the day. He is drinking from a regular bottle, eating lots of solids now like yogurt, bread, stage 3 foods, and bananas mashed up. He loves to eat! I'm so happy to be able to feed him now that his palate is repaired. He is a super fast army-crawler and figured out how to get from crawling to sitting. He is starting to wave bye bye, we think. He turns when he hears his name and just lights up whenever he sees Joel or the kids. Such a fun baby!

First day of school!

 

There's my big kids, headed off to their first day of school! Julianna in 3rd grade with Mrs. Kurylowicz again (we officially held her back a year) and Blake in 2nd grade with Mrs. Phelps. They are both doing great in school!

Nathan's Surgery

 

Right before they wheeled him away. They gave him a medication to calm him down before getting anesthesia.

 

Right after the surgery and he was starting to wake up. We went up to see him in the recovery area (PICU). They had arm restraints, but only for an hour or two. He had oxygen to help him breathe a little better while he was waking up. This was the hardest part for me to see. He was swollen and groggy and in pain.

 

In our recovery room, trying to feed him for the first time. He seemed to take it okay this time, but the next two days weren't easy at all. He did not want to eat from the bottle and they kept him on IV fluids.

 

Here he is the day after, looking much better! His tongue was out a lot, probably because he wasn't used to his new palate and he was still swollen.

 

 

Nathan had his cleft palate repair surgery and ear tubes done on August 20th, at Loma Linda Children's Hospital. He was the first surgery of the day, so we had to get to the hospital at 5:45, which meant we left around 5 am! The surgery went very well according to his surgeon, Dr. Martin, who has done over 200 of these repairs! The hardest part was the recovery. Most babies, I was told, bounce back much quicker and start eating from the bottle the next day. Nathan did not! The first night he was up until 5 am, so I was awake for a full 24 hours, with a lot of help from the nurses! I just held him all night and felt awful thinking about how much pain he was in. They had to give him morphine several times to calm him down enough to not feel the pain. The second night was a little better for him, but he still was awake almost the entire night. So two days after the surgery, he finally started to seem less groggy and more alert and himself. Halfway through the day, he finally started to drink at least a few onces from the bottle, but not all at once. I was determined to go home so I tried my best to get him to eat better. They took him off fluids to see if that would encourage him, and it did a little bit. By the end of that day, they were able to discharge us. Coming home was still hard. He slept well, but I had to wake him up twice during the night to feed and give medication the whole week following. It wasn't until about 10 days after the surgery, after his post-op appt with the surgeon, that he finally started to eat better, as in, eating more than one ounce at a time. He can actually use a regular bottle now because he has normal suction! His stitches dissolve and will be gone completely by the end of the month. He is loving trying new foods, even little pieces of bread! This was definitely one of the most challenging experiences I've been through as a mom. Many prayers were said on his behalf, and my faith was tested to the extreme. I am so grateful to have Nathan in our family and love his sweet personality.

Joel's camping trip with the kids

 

Joel took Julianna and Blake camping for two nights the weekend before school started! They went to the Barton Flats Campground in the San Bernardino Mountains and had fun hiking, sitting around the fire, and exploring. The kids LOVE camping and I'm glad Joel was willing to take them! I wasn't up to bringing Nathan this year. They had a great time.