Birthday Table

Once a month our school celebrates that months birthdays by inviting the parents to come eat lunch with their child. 2nd Son's birthday is in June so on Tuesday they had a special birthday table for all the June birthdays. I took Princess and Little Man and we went to the school to eat with 2nd Son and his best friend who just lives down the street from us. I have always loved this activity and made a point to go every year. Usually 1st Son will stop by and say "Hi" to me but this time he would not even make eye contact with me. I guess when you get to be a 4th grader your mom is just not cool anymore. I can't decided if my feelings are hurt or not though because I remember feeling the same way around my mother. Can I really be getting that old?

Brothers

I have been trying to dejunk (is that a word?)my house, which seems like a never ending process, and came across 2nd son's journal from school last year. I love to read what they write. One of his entries read, "I feel the sun-shine in me when I do something for my lite (little) bro (brother)." This made me smile!!! I love to watch my boys interact with Little Man and the love they show to him. I do not worry about Little Man because I know he has the best two brothers (and sister) looking out for him.

Little Man's Birth Story Part 3

The next couple of days were hard but also good. His heart murmur could no longer be heard and we have never heard it since. His bowel started to work. I have never been so excited to see a baby poop in my whole life. He started to nurse a couple of times a day. His rash would come and go as his white blood cell count got higher or lower. The doctors said he had Myelophroliferative Blood Disorder which makes him more susceptible to leukemia.

On our 12th day at LDS Hospital Little Man decided to stop breathing. It was probably the scariest moment in my whole life as I watched them try to get him to start breathing again. Eventually he did start to breath but he had some internal bleeding and his spline was enlarged. At 5:00am we received a call that he has stopped breathing again. They let us know that they were transferring him to Primary Children's Medical Center.

We stayed at PCMC for another 2 weeks where they were able to give him some antibiotics to help stabilize him. We were able to take our Little Man home on Feb. 3, 2009. That was a great day!!! Because of the blood disorder we have had to watch his white blood cell count through blood tests. The doctors gave him a 25% chance of developing leukemia in early childhood but so far so good.

We received so many blessing that month that Little Man was in the hospital and saw Heavenly Fathers love for us. We are so grateful for our Little Man and have loved every minute with him.

UDSF Davis County Skating Party

On Wednesday night we went to the Davis County Down Syndrome skate party. The boys had a lot of fun on their scooter. Princess and I tried to skate but it only lasted for a minute before Princess decided she was too young and I decided I too old to skate. Everyone also had fun in the bounce houses. I meet the cuties family named the Talbots who live about 5 minutes from us. They have to cutiest DS baby girl that they adopted.

Potty Training

I hate to potty train!!! My two boys I waited until they were 4 and it still seemed like it took forever for them to get it so with my little princess I have be dreading even trying to potty train her. My sister-in-law would always say that girls were easier than boys and that her girls did it all on their own. I remember being so jealous of her. After church on Sunday Princess brought me her underwear and said she wanted to wear them so I let her thinking that we would have one accident and she would be done and I could procrastinate for a little longer. She had one accident but still wanted to keep going. Monday she had one accident, Tuesday she had two and today we have had none. She is doing it all on her own and telling me when she needs to go and sometimes she just goes without even telling me. I still can't believe it!!!! As soon as I post this we will starting having problems so I am hesitant to hit post but maybe I could be that lucky, right????

Little Man's Party

We had a birthday party for Little Man this weekend. I was kind of worried how he would do with all the people and noise but he seems to do just fine. We had a lot of fun with our family. For Christmas we got 8 Nerf dart guns so after the presents, cake, and ice cream all the men (or boys which is what they turned into) had an all out war. My boys said it was the best birthday party ever.

I was especially grateful that my Grandpa Hill and Grandma Robinson were able to come and help us celebrate. I love these two pictures and hope that Little Man will be able to know and remember both of these incredible people.

Happy Birthday Little Man!!!

Birth Story Part 2

The next day proved to be a lot harder as we learned more about our little man. The doctors found a heart murmur that morning. They were also worried about a bowel obstruction because his abdomen was huge. Over night he developed a rash all over his body which as the days when on continued to get worse. His white blood cell count was 76.0 (normal is5.5-17.0). The doctors informed us that if it reached 100.0 they would have to transfer him to Primary Childrens to start chemotherapy. I remember being so overwhelmed by everything and wondering just what the future held for him.

Since it was January, it was RSV season and the hospital would not allow young kids inside the Special Care Nursery. They did agree to bring Little Man to the glass so that the kids could at least see him. I remember Princess saying over and over "Cute baby" and 1st Son commenting on just how small he was. I was so grateful they were able to meet him if only through the glass.

We are having a party tomorrow to celebrate Little Man's 1st Birthday so I will post more tomorrow.

Davis County UDSF Bowling Party

During the Christmas Break the Davis County UDSF rented out Davis Lanes so we could have a Bowling Party. My kids were so excited to be able to bowl. It was a lot of fun to meet new people also. As you can tell it was enjoyed by all.

Catch up

I had hoped to write about Christmas but it not going to happen so I will put some pictures up instead.

Little Man's 1st Birthday

We celebrated Little Man's 1st Birthday on Thursday. It is so hard to believe it has been a year since our little man was born. He decided to come 6 weeks early which was a huge surprise. He weighed 6 pounds 13 ounces so he was definitely big enough to come which I was grateful for. He had trouble breathing which I knew would happen since he was so early. I only saw him long enough to touch his beautiful face and then they took him to the Special Care Nursery. When Chris first saw Little Man he asked the nurses and Doctor if Little Man had Down Syndrome but no one thought he did so I did not really worry about it. When they took Little Man away Chris went with him to make sure he was O.K. The doctor and nurse finished up with me and then left me alone. I remember worry about Little Man and wanted to know if everything was alright. It was kind of a helpless feeling to not be able to be with him.

I will never forgot the look on Chris's face when he finally returned. It was one of those defining moments in my life that I will never forget. He told me that they thought that Little Man did have Down Syndrome and they would run some tests to find out. I remember feeling that all my hopes and dreams for him had died. I remember being grateful that it was just Chris and I together mourning for those dreams. We had incredible family support that let us know that they would love Little Man even if he did have Down Syndrome which I was so grateful for then and now.

Finally they took me to the Special Nursery so that I was able to see my little man. It was hard to see such a little baby hooked up to machines with IV and monitors. I remember wanting to hold him and touch his little body. From there they took me to my room. It was so different to be in a room just Chris and I. We talked a lot about the future and what it held for our family. Both of our parents came and visited and everyone received blessings to help us. I remember my father telling me that as I looked back on my life I would see the ways that Heavenly Father had prepared me for Little Man and the privilege that I had to raise him.

Chris went home and told our children about Little Man and that he was special. That year 2nd Son had a little boy named Henry in his class at school. Henry has Down Syndrome. As soon as Chris said that Little Man was special 2nd Son said,"you mean like Henry". I was so grateful that day for Henry and that my children already knew and loved someone that had Down Syndrome. It has never bothered them that Little Man is special. In fact I think they love him more.

That night before I went to bed I called over to the nursery to check on Little Man. The nurse said she was just about to give him a bath and wanted to know if I wanted to come. Of course I jumped (or wheeled since they would not let me walk) at the chance. It was so fun help give him his first bath. All of my other children were done by Chris and I was usually too numb to move. After it was all over she handed him to me so I could really hold him for the first time. I fell in love with him at that moment.

Little Man's birth story is long so I will post more of it as the month goes on. Sorry it is so long.

Christmas Party

The Sunday before Christmas we got together with my husbands family for a Christmas Party. It was so much fun to get together and visit with everyone. Grandma Betty decided to do a live nativity which we were kind of worried about. We did not know if our kids would be good or if they would refuse to do it but everyone was so excited to participate and it was actually really nice to reflect on the real meaning of Christmas. Princess was an angel, 2nd Son was a wise man, and 1st Son was Joseph.