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.

The end of the summer break

 

On July 31st, Nathan was scheduled to go in for his cleft palate repair. This is after being postponed back on June 19th. My mom was flying in on Aug 1st, the older kids were planning to go to Joel's mom's house in Santa Ana while the surgery was going on, we had everyting set up. Again. Imagine our surprise when we got the dreaded call on July 30th that the surgery had to be postponed. Again! We were beyond upset, frustated, angry, you name it. I called everyone in my power to see if there was any way to keep it, explained all that we had done to get ready, all the family in place, and there was nothing we  could do. When someone needs an emergency life or death surgery, you never know which surgeon they will ask for. We found out our surgeon is very good and used often at the hospital for trauma emergencies. I'm glad he's good, but I'll never know unless the surgery happens! Anyway, we are now scheduled for next week on the 20th. Everything set up again, except this time my mom can't come. So after we found it was canceled, we asked Joel's mom if the kids could still come for a day and a night. They happily agreed, and were able to do lots of fun stuff with them! So grateful. It helped Joel and I destress and get through the emotional let-down of the whole sitiation. And my mom still flew out, just for a visit, and she surprised us by taking us to....

 

...Disneyland and CA adventure! It had been many years since we've been, and the kids were so excited. We loved Cars Land!

 

We saw Lightning McQueen drive by right next to us!

 

Julianna got to meet 3 princesses!

 

It was such a fun, crazy day! Sooo busy but worth it. Nathan did great. The rest of the weekend we just relaxed and went to church. I'm so grateful for family to help us get through these hard times and make them better! Praying that next week's scheduled surgery happens for Nathan.

Utah Trip

 

After Cindel and Sam's wedding, we got to meet up with Briana, Eddy, Lizzie, and Aunt Jalaire at Temple Square! We went to Johnny Rockets for dinner and walked around City Creek, which is amazing! So fun to see them.

 

All 10 Maxwell cousins together (2 more on the way!) It was fun to see all of them play together.

 

We went to Hogle Zoo with Callie and her kids, and my Mom and Dad. It was so hot, we only lasted maybe 2 hours. The big highlight was the giraffes.

 

The other big highlight was the merry-go-round. Since Callie had passes, the kids got to go on as many times as they wanted! I think it ended up being 3 times. It was nice to sit in the shade and watch the kids instead of walking in the heat!

 

 

The next day, we wanted to go on a hike. My dad suggested Timpanogus Caves. The website said the hike was 1 1/2 miles, but looked like a paved road, so we thought it would be great. My Mom and Dad planned to come along. It started at 3:15, and we had to be at the cave entrance by 4:45 for the tour. So 90 minutes to hike 1.5 miles seemed easy enough, we thought! 

 

Turned out the hike was not so easy! Steep, paved switchbacks all the way up. My parents made it halfway before they turned back. We were determined to make it to the top! It took lots of encouragement and some extra water from a park employee, but we made it for the tour, with 5 minutes to spare! Amazingly, Nathan slept in the carrier the whole time!

 

So here are some pictures from inside the caves. Amazing! I highly recommend this hike, but make sure you are in good shape to get to the top! 

 

 

At the end of our tour. We did it! What an accomplishment, especially for the kids. We were so proud of them for doing this.  

 

We still had the long hike down. We were tired by the end!

 

 

 

We had such a great time in Utah this year! We love visiting and seeing my family there. This time was especially fun because we got to come on a plane. So fun for the kids!

Cindel and Sam's Wedding

 

On July 6th, my sister Cindel married Sam Bollard, a member of a family we knew in Irvine over 10 years ago. The wedding was beautiful, and Cindel and Sam could not be happier. It was so great to celebrate it with family and friends and the "almost" rain made it even more fun! We are so happy for them.