5 Years

Today is Eli's 5th birthday! This time 5 years ago my family and I had gone black friday shopping and I wasn't feeling very well that night. Then my water broke while Kaelub was at Walmart and my brother went to find him. (He hadn't taken his cell phone with him.) 18 hours later Eli was born and we became parents for the first time. Eli is such a sweet boy with a stubborn streak. He loves to be outside and ride his bike or play at the park. His favorite movie today is Toy Story 3 and his favorite color today is blue. (That changes daily!) For his choice of birthday dinner he wanted a happy meal from McDonalds, or as he calls it "Mickey Donalds". Yesterday he told me that when he turned 5 his hands were going to be big like daddy's. He was a little disappointed this morning to see he had the same size hands. :) We are so glad to have this energetic boy in our family!

Blessing in Disguise

With Thanksgiving coming up and thinking about what I am thankful for, I immediately thought about the last few months. Sometimes we don't see the blessings "in the moment" but find out later that we truly were blessed. I went to see the doctor who took my appendix out last week for my post-op visit. I felt great and expected it to be a quick visit. He came in the room, sat down, and told me he had some bad news. They had found a carcinoid tumor in my appendix. It was so unexpected I don't think I really took much of what he said in until after I left the office. The good news was it was only 1.5 mm in size and the treatment for this type of tumor was to take the appendix out. Also since it was so small, he said there was less than a 1% chance of it having spread anywhere else. If they had not taken my appendix out and found it, I could have gone maybe 20 years without it ever being found. I am grateful for a Heavenly Father who loves me & blesses me in so many ways.

Farm Fun

While my mom and brother were here visiting in October, they took the kids to the farm for Fall Festival. They love going on the rides and seeing the animals. The pig race is always fun to watch and grandma even got them an Italian ice to cool off with. We had so much fun while they were here and the kids were sad to see them go.

Cuddles From Grandma

Kaelub's mom came for 3 days when Ty was 2 weeks old. She brought Eli & Ava fun gifts like puzzles & coloring books. They loved playing with Grandma Lynda and Ty got his share of cuddles.

Ty's Room

A couple of you asked about Ty's room, which was previously my sewing/craft storage room. I decided to do yellow, gray, and aqua for Ty's room, and luckily I had a lot of things already those colors in my sewing room. I made the yellow and gray striped growth chart from a board I already had. The printables were all free that I found online and I used yellow & gray spray paint on frames I already had. I did buy the fabric to make the quilts and pennant banner hanging on the crib. And the scrapbook paper to make the fans, pinwheels, blocks on his dresser, & the banner hanging from the mirror. The dresser was one I found on craigslist for $20 and I refinished it. Instead of a mobile hanging above his crib I used tissue paper balls and ribbon. I framed one of his ultrasound pictures and now need to get some of his newborn pics in the room!

Goodbye Appendix

We've had way too much excitement lately! Ty turned 1 month old on October 10th. It started out like any other day. I took the kids to the park for a play date with friends. We headed home around 11 am and as I pushed the stroller I had sharp pain in my right side and couldn't stand up straight. I had noticed the same pain randomly the previous few days, but it would come and go. Usually it only happened when I would stand up or bump my side against something. I even mentioned it to my friends at the park. I put Ava down for her nap and called my doctor to see if I should come in. I had to leave a message for the nurse because she was at lunch, and by the time I finally got in touch with her, I had a temperature of 100.8. I also had not been able to eat anything since lunch time the previous day. I had no appetite and felt nauseous when I even looked at food. The nurse told me to monitor my temp and if it or the pain got worse to go to the emergency room. Luckily I had a wonderful friend call to check on me and offer to take the kids if I needed to go in. So about 4:00 I dropped them off and took Ty with me to the ER. Kaelub met me there just before they took me back. After blood tests & a CAT scan, they told me I needed my appendix out. I had surgery about 9:00 that night, spent Thursday in the hospital, and came home Friday. My saint of a mom flew down Friday morning to help me since I can't drive for a week and can't lift anything over 10 lbs for 2 weeks. Although the dr did say I can lift Ty, and I'm pretty sure he is over 10 lbs now. I am so grateful for good friends who have watched my kids, visited me with yummy pie, and offered to help. My mom probably feels like she has moved here between coming for the baby and now this! I'm sure glad she has been able to come. I don't know what we would do without her. :)

My Little Helper

This girl loves to help me with anything I need when it comes to Ty. She will get me diapers, wipes, a blanket, or anything else if I ask her. And she has her bunny with her constantly so she can change him, feed him, rock him, or burp him too. I'm always finding her bunny in the swing, crib, or bounce chair. Love having a little helper around.

1 Week Old

I just had to put some pics up from Ty's newborn shoot with Kelsey. 1 week old and she even caught a smile.

Baby Ty

Monday morning we welcomed our little boy. I started having contractions about 2 in the morning so Kaelub and I headed to the hospital around 3. Kelsey was so nice to come over and stay with the kids so they could sleep. We got checked in to the hospital and I got my epidural about 4:30. He was born at 6:06 am, 8 lbs, and 21.3 in long. We think he looks a lot like Eli did and after a rough first day and a half in the hospital, we are glad to be home. Grandma is here helping and we are loving that!

Idaho Trip 2012

I finally got my pictures off my camera from our trip to Idaho eariler this summer. We went for about 11 days over the 4th of July. It was so fun to see family, play outside, and relax. The kids loved helping my mom in her garden and got to take a ride on Grandpa Denny's tractor & dump truck. We went to Cave Falls and Ava loved sticking her feet in the water, even though it was pretty cold. We fed the fish at Warm River, fed the ducks, & hit up Porter Park to play in the water, on the toys, & ride the carousel. We ended the trip with a family reunion at Green Canyon & dinner at the Sugar City park. It was so fun to see aunts, uncles, cousins, & their kids. Eli & Ava couldn't get enough of playing with the kids on the merry go round!