Sleep Study

It has been a year since we got our news about the problems with my pregnancy with Kyle. I just reread the post I wrote on that day one year ago and the pain was so fresh which makes the miracle of Kyle's last nine months that much more amazing. He has been such a joy. Last night he had his sleep study. Just like everything he has gone through he did great. He sat really still while the tech stuck all kinds of wires and probes on him. He did not pull at any of his cords (if only he could do as well with his glasses!) He had two by his eyes that recorded when he was dreaming, two by his chin to see if he grinds his teeth, and a bunch more on his scalp that recorded brain waves and sleep patterns. He had a microphone taped to his neck to pick up any possible snoring. The special cannula in his nose measured rate and flow of his breathing through his nose. He had two belts across his chest to check for apnea and measure breathing. He also had EKG leads on his chest and a sat monitor on his big toe. I don't know if I could have slept with all that on me. When I laid him down to sleep he fussed for a few seconds and then decided that he would play in his new bed. He kept starting at me through the crib bars and smiling. It took him about an hour to fall asleep and then he kept rolling around on his giant bundle of cords and waking up to play with them. He did finally fall asleep a little after midnight and slept great until they came and woke him up at 6:00am. The tech said that he did well but we will not have any final results for at least a couple of weeks. Hopefully then we will be oxygen free.

Here is my little space man. He looks like an astronaut. It is still amazing to think of everything we have been through in the last year and all I can say is the proof that miracles happen is evident in my life everyday and for that I am so thankful!

9 Month Stats

Kyle had his 9 month check-up this week and the news is good! He is officially on the normal growth charts. He weighed 18-4 which still only put him at 15% for weight but he was almost 29 inches long which is 63% and his head was 50%. He is on his way to being one tall guy after a slow start.Kyle continues to be a pretty happy guy. He is teething again which has not been fun. I wish those stubborn teeth would just come through already!

Kyle has also decided that his glasses make better chew toys than eye wear. He is a smart little guy and as soon as I turn my back they are in his mouth. I am trying to keep them on but it is not going very well so any advice would be welcomed.

This is Kyle's other favorite toy...his tubing of his cannula. I know that this looks bad but I am really obsessive about keeping his tubing clean so at least he is chewing on clean plastic. I don't know what he will do with it is not there anymore.

What Kyle has been up to...rolling like crazy. He gets SO twisted in his tubes. He can now sit for about 3 seconds unsupported. Sitting has been the main focus of his therapy sessions for the last few weeks. He does not like to sit AT ALL. He would much rather roll or stand and bounce (with support of course). He really just wants to move and sitting just does not do it for him. He is really enjoying food. His favorites include bananas, carrots, avocados, and puffs which he is now eating by the fistfull. He has also developed an extreme attachment to me which is flattering and exhausting at the same time. He screams every time I leave the room. Abby was the same way and I think I have created another little monster. He still loves his sisters who smother him with affection and can't wait until he can really play with them. He is laughing more and more everyday although he still tries his hardest not to. We LOVE our little guy!

Washington D.C. Temple Trip

Last weekend we made a trip to D.C. to go to the temple. Our ward had a special day at the temple including a Primary activity, the sealing of a family in our ward, youth baptisms and an endowment session. It is not always easy to get to the temple with how far away it is but at the same time we know how blessed we are to have one we can get to in a day, even if it is a long day. The girls love to go to the temple. During their primary activity they got to touch the temple which they both said was their favorite part of the day.

Our friends the Johnsons watched Kyle for us while we did a session. Here he is with Evrett hanging out in the visitor center. I think Kyle looks HUGE next to baby Evrett.

This is Emma's group during their turn in the visitor center. They got a tour given by a sister missionary and enjoyed seeing the Christus statue.

Here is Abby's group in the visitors center. She loved her picture of Jesus.

Still happy after a very long day. It was so nice to be able to get to the temple again. With everything that went on last year this is the first time we have been able to go in WAY too long.
Abby went from this...
to this in about five seconds. It was a great day and we can't wait to do it again!

He's HOME!!!

Trevor made it home from New Orleans today. He loved his externship and I am pretty sure that if LSU had a four year program that is where we would be headed next year. It was a hands on externship so he got to finally do all the things he has been waiting for. They pretty much gave him a pager and let him go. I think it will be hard for him to go back to being so supervised at school. Trevor could not stop talking about all the great food he got to try. One sweet treat is called a Beignet (Ben-yea). It is a French donut that is LOADED with powdered sugar. He liked them so much that he bought a mix for us to try at home. I managed to fry them all without burning myself or the girls.

I don't think that the girls knew what to do at first. There was more powdered sugar on their plates then they had ever seen before. The white stuff on the table is flour that we used to roll out the dough.

Of course she loved them...they were covered in sugar!

They really were tasty little treats...kind of like a funnel cake and next time I think I will put fruit on mine along with the sugar. We loved our treat and love having Trevor home even more. We have never been apart for more than a couple of day and I think that we will try to never do a stretch this long again!

Just for Fun!

Finally!!!

It has been WAY too long (almost 2 years) since I have been to the beach, and although I still consider myself a beach snob and prefer the beaches on the west coast we had a great day at the shore. I am trying to figure out how to do it more often since we had such a good time. I think I have another fan of the beach on my hands which is just fine with me. It was a very windy and chilly day. I stayed in my sweat shirt all day, but this little guy loved the wind and kept turning his face into it and smiling.

You would never know it was chilly from looking at these two. They were right at home. Abby even made a sand angel which I think is WAY better than the snow variety.

Do I even need to say anything about this picture...pure joy.

I am going to miss this girl!

Emma was a master sand crab catcher. She would squeal with delight every time she dug one up. She loved when they would tickle her fingers and she had to show me every one she caught.

One tired beach bum. Abby rarely falls asleep in the car so you can tell how tired she was. I love her mouth hanging wide open.

All smiles after a great day at the shore. She wrote a story about her great day on the drive home.

I love this picture! So far he has been a great little traveler.

After dinner at Five Guys we went out to ice cream and once again Abby's face says it all.

We have had a great visit with Aunt Shayla. These three kids (and their mom) are going to miss her and can't wait to visit her in August. We love Shayla!

Healthy Kids Day

On Saturday we went to Healthy Kids Day put on by CHOP at the Mann Music Center. It was an awesome event. They had all sorts of activities for kids as well as information booths on all kinds of childhood topics. The girls got tons of free stuff including books, water bottles, stickers, pencils and tote bags. The whole day was FREE which a hard thing to find these days. We had a great healthy lunch as well as snacks and drinks. My girlies LOVE to have their faces painted. It is not my favorite thing because I don't think that it is the most hygienic thing but I just could not say no and they both looked so cute.

This was just one of the many activities. They had bounce houses, rock climbing, soccer, and a gymnastic center. I think Emma flew down this slide.

Here we are waiting for the concert to start. The Laurie Berkner band has been a favorite of ours for years so we were way excited to see her in concert.

We did not get to stay for the whole concert but the girls had a great time dancing and singing along to some of their favorite songs.

Once again this little guy was perfect. He slept for a good chunk of the time and seemed to enjoy the concert almost as much as the girls.

My Little Scientist

Kyle got his glasses last week. I have to admit that they are not my favorite things. For some reason I am having a hard time with them. He makes everything look cute but it is just one more thing to put on his face and it is just seems unnatural. Hopefully we will be able to get rid of the oxygen cannula in another month and he will have one less thing on his face. At church on Sunday a little girl came up to us and asked why he had "that" on his face. I thought that she was talking about the oxygen cannula because we get lots of questions about that so I explained that he needs it to help him breath. She looked at me funny and they said "Not that...why is he wearing glasses? Babies don't wear glasses." Well...mine does!

This is him in the optometrists office. I was a little concerned because he pulled them right off. He must like them better now because he only pulls them off when he is tired. I am sure that he is enjoying being able to see the world.

He really is a cutie and I am glad that he can see now. I am excited to see the progress he will make in therapy now that he can actually see the toys we are trying to get him to reach for. I am very grateful for the medical advancements that have blessed my little guys life.

A Trip to the Zoo with AUNT SHAYLA!!!

This past week we have had a special visitor from the west. Aunt Shayla came to help us survive our time without Trevor. Sorry to all the family who already read Shayla's blog because this will be a little bit of a repeat but really can you can't get enough of these kids. I am also still battling with blogger to get my pictures in the right order but I seem to be loosing so you will just have to get things a little out of order.

We got a perfect zoo day with Aunt Shayla. We went in the afternoon after all the field trips were gone and we pretty much had the zoo to ourselves. The weather was perfect and the girls got to go on every ride without waiting in line. The draft horse is a big favorite even though all they do is walk in a circle but they love it and the the horses really are huge.
Emma was so excited to be able to ride her favorite animal on the carousel.
This in one of my favorite parts at the zoo. You can feed the birds. They give you a little cup of nectar and the birds fly down and land on your arm to drink it. Emma did not want a bird to land on her so she was our photographer. Abby was very excited to have a pretty green one land on her arm and she did not want it to leave when her nectar was all gone.

The day ended with ice cream which I personally think is the way every event should end.
This little boy was perfect at the zoo. He slept for a good chunk of the time and was happy just hanging out in his stroller the rest of the time. I think he is getting more accustomed to having sisters who always want to be on the go.

The girls talked Aunt Shayla into taking a ride on the camel. How could you pass up such a unique experience.

It was also a perfect day for the zoo balloon. I am not sure that Shayla liked it very much but she was a good sport. The trick will be getting my Dad on it if he comes to visit.