Silly Selfies: Little Bro is Eighteen Months Old

Little bro is finally 18 months old. He is 20 pounds 2 oz (4%) and 32 inches long (33%). He continues to struggle with gaining weight even while calorie packing and g-tubing him several times a week.  To our surprise he still has to sit rear facing in his car seat.  As for feeding him lately, Sadly, he throws up a couple times a week from either burping, coughing, crying too much, feeling full, playing, laughing, or other unknown reasons. It's also frustrating that he refuses to eat sometimes. I think with all the throwing up he has developed another oral aversion. There are days when I just dread feeding him because of the daily battle of him either refusing to eat or drink or throws up. As you can imagine, his eating behaviors causes me a lot of grief. There are days when we both are in tears during meal time.  I've found that it calms us down when we listen to classical music or distract him with toys during meal time. Thankfully, he has a g-tube, which we have been relying on lately. I'm grateful for the support from is dietitian and feeding therapist. They are exploring all kinds of ways to help him such as having him tested him for celiac, which came back negative. Next, we are using some antibiotic medication to help him empty his stomach quicker. We will know in a few weeks if that medication will make a difference. As for other developmental milestones, he is delayed socially and not speaking yet.  Little brother has extreme separation anxiety from his family members and rarely will interact with anybody outside our intermediate family. I'm hopeful that when little bro attends nursery at church on a regular basis he will be able to develop some healthy social interactions.  Additionally, in January he will be doing a music playgroup at Kids on the Move. As far as communication goes, he started signing "more" and grunts while pointing at objects.  I am confident that he is understands us and is very intelligent. For example, he will retrieve an item when we ask him to get something for us and seems to understand us even though he cannot communicate to us. We will be following up with a genetics specialist in March to see if he can determine if Zach has any other syndromes. 

Scattering Service Jars

Service Lesson: Scattering Kindness Jars

A lesson on service is a perfect December achievement day activity.   For my lesson and discussion, I made an interactive visual aid. I taped a Christmas tree similar to an advent calendar using a brown paper bag, white card stock, scrapbook numbers 1-12, and hand written quotes inside.  I basically folded a rectangle into a square, used a glue stick to attach the circle numbers and quotes.  I got the Advent numbers from Pinterest: DIY Advent Calendar I also made a star and glued gold glitter on it. 

First, I had the girls take turns picking a number and reading the quote. Then I asked each of them how they could serve others? After they shared their idea, each girl helped me decorate a small Christmas tree with paper ornaments while my co-leader wrote down the ideas on the chalk board.  I got the Advent Christmas ornaments from Pinterest: Christmas Advent Wreath, which I used a needle and thread to hang them on the tree. These are the following quotes I used for my lesson:

Service Quotes:

1. “Our Savior gave Himself in unselfish service.   He taught that each of us should follow Him by denying ourselves of selfish interests in order to serve others.”  -- Dallin H. Oaks

2. “As we lose ourselves in the service of others, we discover our own lives and our own happiness.” --Dieter Uchtdorf

3. “The happiest people I know are those who lose themselves in the service of others.”-- Gordon B. Hinckley

4. “The greatest service we can provide to others in this life, beginning with those of our own family, is to bring them to Christ.” --Todd Christofferson

5. “When ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God.” --King Benjamin Mosiah 2:17

6. If we could look into each other’s hearts and understand the unique challenges each of us faces, I think we would treat each other much more gently, with more love, patience, tolerance, and care.” – Marvin J. Ashton

7. “As we give, we find that sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven, and in the end, we learn that it was no sacrifice at all.” -- Spencer W. Kimball

8. “He who gives money gives much. He who gives time gives more. He who gives of himself gives all.”  – Thomas S. Monson

9. “No one has ever become poor from giving” -- Maya Angelou

10. “Fill your life with service to others! As you lose your life in the service of Father in Heaven’s children, Satan’s temptations lose power in your life.”-- Richard G. Scott 

11. Find someone who is having a hard time or is lonely, and do something for him or her.” -- Thomas S. Monson

12. We can give the Savior gifts, by serving others. Fill a jar with slips of papers with ideas. Each morning, close your eyes and pull out your service idea for the day.” – Dieter Uchtdorf

Credits: Designed by me using Shabby Princess' Christmas kits. As for the fonts, I used That's Font Folks and 2 Pea's Heart Delight.

U LOVE WHO U SERVE

I summarized the lesson by sharing some of my favorite memories of serving others and reading the following quote: “Often small acts of service are all that is required to lift and bless another: a question concerning a person’s family, quick words of encouragement, a sincere compliment, a small note of thanks, a brief telephone call. If we are observant and aware, and if we act on the promptings which come to us, we can accomplish much good.” – Thomas S. Monson  (see above image that I made for this).  Afterwards the girls, decorated their jars with a label my co-leader made "U Love Who U Serve and wrote down several service ideas on folded pieces of hearts from pretty scrapbook card stock paper. We used markers to color them and tied ribbons on the top of the jar. Here are some service examples that the girls and leaders came up with.

Acts of Kindness Slips in a Jar 

Pick up trash

Give flowers

Help make dinner

Say “thank you”

Do an extra chore

Donate toys or clothes 

Write a letter and mail it

Hold the door open

Send a care package

Write to a missionary

Smile at 10 people

Bake cookies for a neighbor

Teach Family Home Evening

Call a relative

Make a card

Give a Hug

Make a new friend

Share a treat

Rake some leaves

Collect food for a shelter

Share your testimony

Read a book to a small child

Babysit for free

Feed the birds

Give a compliment

Send a card to a solider

Leave a surprise on the doorstep

Make a dinner basket

Visit a nursing home

Paint your Mom’s nails

Help an elderly neighbor

Donate hygiene kits to a shelter

Give a treat to your mail carrier

Pray for the sick

Make somebody’s bed

Write a note to your teacher

Make a fleece blanket for a new baby

Make breakfast for Mom and Dad

Clean the windows

Say ”I love you” to all your family members

Western Theme Daddy Daughter Date

Guess who recently got called to be an Activity Day leader and happily accepted? Yes, I was thrilled to join the Activity Day team for my new ward. During the months of August, September, and October, I helped planned and prepared for the annual daddy daughter date event.  I spent many hours designing paper decorations for picks, game signs, game map, watering hole sign, food cards, menu, etc.  I also designed the invitations, a fun activity place mat, and subway art.  Thankfully, we planned activities for the girls to help us out with cutting, assembling, coloring the backdrop, and putting other decorations together. On the day of the Hoedown, I was in charge of setting up the decorations, food prep, and was the photographer during the evening.  Since I had no cowgirl attire, I went shopping for some boots, hat, jeans, shirt, and belt. As for my belt buckle, I was honored to wear my great grandmother Ruby Coleman's belt buckle that was passed down to me.  It was fun to watch my husband and daughter interact with each other all evening! 

The Invitation
 I designed this invite using digital scrap book supplies, buttons, red thread, needle, glue sticks, and 3d foam adhesive stickers. The girls assembled the invite, stitched together the pockets, and placed the invite inside the pocket. 

Credits: I used The Happy Trails kit and other misc supplies by Shabby Princess and the wood and denim supplies are by Gina Cabrera. For the fonts, I used Hoedown, IFC Los Banitos, Three Dates One Night, Duality, Bergamot Ornaments, and WM Western1. 

The Decorations
Here are some examples of the decorations: food cards, picks, the invites, the DIY cow print cups the girls cut out from their own design using sticky black vinyl, the paper flowers wrapped around the mason jars, lots of raffia tied on things, rope, bandannas, denim and checkered table cloths. The Templates  Credits are the following: Sheriff Badge, Cowboy Hat, Boot Template, Napkin Template, Wagon Wheel, and Horse Shoe.
Another amazingly creative talented activity leader brought a fence to display other decorations (cow boy hats, rope, signs, boots, etc), she designed the vintage posters, made some picks, wanted posters, name cards, square hay bales center pieces, etc. She also helped the girls hammer a design in a soup can then spray painted them red, which we placed a light in the can, there were mustache and lip cutouts pulled through straws, and she designed the awesome napkin rings.

My Cowboy Subway Art: I downloaded several fonts from all over the internet. I found most of them off Pinterest, which had direct links!

The Photo Booth and Props: First, I took pictures of them while country music was playing in the background. As for the backdrop, cowboy/cowgirl hats, lips, mustaches, signs, sheriff badge, cowboy lingo, and robber eye mask were made by the other talented leader!  She also drew the backdrop which the girls colored with chalk for the photo shoot. I made the shooting booth sign red taped on the table.

The Menu: We tried to keep it simple...  We made BBQ Pulled Pork, bought Rolls, Baked Potatoes, Potato Fixin's, Salad Ranch, Broccoli and Cheese, water, and lemonade. For dessert: Root Beer floats and Smoky S'more Pops. The girls and their Dads enjoyed the cowboy table place mat games!  After they all ate their grub, we had somebody from our ward read a cowboy poem and a "real cowboy" did a demonstration on how to saddle up a horse, etc.

The Games:  Next, they played a few games. We split them in four groups. These are the game signs that I designed, which were hung on the doors. We had wheel barrow races, three legged races around a fake fire, potato sack races with a twist they had to dress up in random cowboy gear, pin the tail on the donkey, and they learned a western line dance.  Lastly, we had them gather together in the gym and do the country line dance that they learned and served root beer floats.  We sent the girls home with their wanted poster, name cards, etc. 

Yee-haw, what a rootin' tootin' night! It was a huge success because of the team work of the incredible activity leaders as well as other volunteers from our ward who helped us!

Free Family Fall Fun

As a family, we strive to savor each season by doing fun activities together.

First, we went on a small family hike near Grovecreek trail.

Next, we played at Hee Haw Farms!   The girls absolutely loved the slides while little brother enjoyed playing in the corn pit.  We all enjoyed the hayride and petting the barnyard animals!

One Sunday afternoon we went for a drive up Alpine Loop, had a picnic, and enjoyed seeing the beautiful colorful leaves.

Lastly, for Halloween 2014, little sis was a Spanish dancer, little brother was Cookie Monster, big sis was "A" from Pretty Little Liars, John was El Macho from Despicable Me II and I was a cowgirl.

Goodbye Stanley

 On September 9, 2014, we were given the instructions from little brother's dietitian to start weaning him from his G-tube since he finally reached 20 pounds!  It will be hard work to calorie pack him and get him to drink Carnation Instant Breakfast, but we are absolutely thrilled that he no longer needs over night feeds and determined to keep it that way!  Our goal is having the doctor officially take the G-tube out next spring!  Stanley is the named we picked for little brother's feeding pole.  Little brother has been using "Stanley"every night since March 30, 2013 (thanks to IHC Home Health Care). We can thank Stanley for helping little brother gain weight and making major milestones, but we also have encountered a lot of unexpected uh ohs too!

1.  It takes a lot of extra time to get him ready for bed (open new feeding bag, calculate fluids, prime his tubing that connects to his feeding bag, change his diaper, put on loose fitting pajamas (absolutely not zipper kind whatsoever), place gauze pad over g-tube site, put on g-tube extension, tape tube extension two times to secure it in place, flush tube, feed him a small bottle, connect tube to his g-tube extension, read a book or listen to music, rock him to sleep, etc! The key is he has to be asleep before we will lie him down otherwise he will play with his tubing, ugh!!!
2.  I have failed to properly close the tube right after flushing the tube! As a result, water or Boost Essentials leaked all over me and baby, yikes!
3.  I didn't attach his tube extension from his g-tube site by turning it properly and within minutes Boost leaked all over his clothes!
4. Due to little brother preferring to sleep on his stomach, occasionally his g-tube extension pops off and leaks Boost all over his clothes, bedding, etc!  What a rude awakening and mess for us to clean up! Now we tape the extension on the top near the g-tube button to keep it in place!
5.  For whatever reason, on a few occasions the iv pump stops pumping boost and says it's done when there is still a lot of fluids in the bag! Huh?!
6. The machine freaks out if we try to prime before it cycles through the rate and dose numbers after turning it on. So then we have to shut it down and try again! The key is patience!
7. While baby brother tosses and turns in his sleep he gets the cord wrapped around his body and a couple times his neck, ack! So scary! I recall his doctor noticed his umbilical cord had a small knot after birth probably from him flipping and moving around in the womb. He moves all over the place while he sleeps!
8. I'm not a huge fan of the chocolate Boost! Not only does it stain his clothes, bedding, etc when his extension tube pops off during a feeding, his bowl movements are shockingly similar to the color of his chocolate Boost the next day! Little brother also seems upset during the night with the chocolate Boost compared to the vanilla or strawberry.
9. Obviously, it's been challenging to get him to self soothe and sleep train him while tube feeding him when we cannot leave the room until she is finally sleeping! Luckily, I've been able to get him to take naps during the days without a hassle. He can go to sleep without me holding or rocking him now!

10. After his tube feed is done, occasionally we wake him up when we disconnect the tube extension from his button and rip the tape off his side. I am surprised that he can sleep through it most of the time!We definitely won't miss Stanley! Goodbye Stanley!

Mini Summer Vacation, Back to School, and 15 Month Checkup

Mini Summer Vacation

On August 13-17, 2014, We drove down to Mesa Arizona to attend a wedding/sealing for our nephew and spent some time with Grandpa and Sharon Free. We drove during the late afternoon and night to make it more comfortable on little brother.  Surprisingly, it was our first time experiencing Arizona during the summer heat. Every time we stepped outside it felt like an oven (dry and very hot).  At this point, we decided we could never survive in Arizona's summers. We love being outside and cannot imagine paying for the AC running non-stop. Thankfully, Grandpa Free had a summing pool to cool off. We went swimming a couple times while there. It was fun being among our Arizona family members celebrating the wedding of Danial and Rebekah. In fact, Rebekah's family did a fun family tradition! They threw Danial a tool party. We had dinner, guests brought tools wrapped in newspaper or paper bags, and had a great time getting to know Rebekah's family better. When the happy couple opened our gift, we got to ask them a question. It was a lot of fun and they got a lot of amazing tools!
First Day Back to School

Summer of 2014 came and went really fast this year. Usually I'm ready for the girls to go back to school due to the non-stop boredom complaints, but this year I was sad they had to go back to school. The first day of school was on August 18th for big sis and little sis started the next day. Big sis is now a sophomore in high school.  Wow, I can hardly believe it! Am I really that old? Didn't I just graduate from high school not too long ago? Also, 2014-2015 is little sister's last year of elementary school. It's crazy how fast kids grow up! Good luck to big sisters and I hope they have a successful school year! Go Vikings and Grizzlies, GRRRRRRRRR! 

Fifteen Month Old Check Up and Shots

Milestones: On August 22, 2014, little brother had his 15 months old check up. He weighs 19 lbs. 4 oz. and is 31.25 inches long. His head circumference was 18.9 inches.  He is slowly making some progress. To our surprise, he is growing in length, but continues to struggle to gain much weight. I'm happy he is at least on the charts! As for his developmental milestones, he isn't talking much or walking yet... I cannot believe he prefers to scoot on his bum all day long. In the past, he has taken a few steps, but for whatever reason, I think he is not confident enough to walk yet. His doctor warned me that he probably wouldn't walk on time... It's frustrating to see many other toddlers younger than him already walking.  Even though he scoots around, he is getting into everything and opening cupboard doors yet. He does occasionally take some kitchen food out from the "lazy Susan" and pull out all the dish towels and bibs out of the drawers. We finally had to install child proof latches under the sinks. Walking brings on more toddler challenges, but I want him to be normal just like any other toddler his age. I have to keep reminding myself that he had three surgeries and I shouldn't compare him to others because of what he has went through. In the meantime, he continues to have monthly early intervention appointments via Kids on the Move (physical therapy and speech). He had occupational therapy discontinued last month due to making most of his feeding goals and his weight seems stable (not losing but slowly gaining)! We are so proud of him! If for whatever reason, he has issues again his occupational therapist will come back as needed.

Our Summer Staycation Activities

We rarely go on out of state vacations.  So I try to find fun activities near home for the kids to do during the summer.  During the Summer of 2014, we went to the carnival for Strawberry days, ate waffles from the Waffle Love Truck, explored a new children's museum, did a day trip to Salt Lake City to see Wheeler Farm, Liberty Park, and Antelope Island.
Strawberry Days
I keep saying every year we will buy rodeo tickets, but sadly John is always out of town on a business trip during the week of Strawberry Days! Hopefully we have better luck next year! However, we went to the Strawberry Days parade and carnival.

Waffle Love Truck
Most people from Utah should know about the Waffle Love Truck! If you like them on Facebook you can find where the truck is located. It changes every single day. AMAZING WAFFLES!

Museum of Natural Curiosity
We went to the new Children's Museum at Thanksgiving Point.  The Museum of Natural Curiosity was fun for all ages. I cannot wait to take baby brother back and do all the cool toddler activities.

  Wheeler Farm
A cheap activity for all the family and furry friends. There are spots for a picnic, hiking trails, farm animals, pond filled with ducks, shop, wagon rides, a playground, etc. There is a very interesting tree that is perfect for family photograph!

Liberty Park
There are many things to do at Liberty Park, which is a large like Central Park in New York City. We only explored the south end of the park.  We had a picnic there, rode some amusement rides, and went paddle boating. Our dog Jagger met many other furry friends.  We would like to make another trip there to see the Tracy Aviary, check out the playgrounds, swimming pool, splash pad, and gardens.

  Antelope Island (The Great Salt Lake)
For $10.00 a car load, you get to play at the salty and sandy beach of Great Salt Lake, see a visitors center, eat a  picnic, observe wild life such as antelope, buffalo, deer, birds, and explore the Fielding Garr Ranch museum. Additionally, it's a beautiful scenic drive through the Island!

There are many beautiful and fun places to explore in Utah during the summer time!

Cooling off from the Summer Heat

Creekside Park, Alpine Utah

During the first week of June, we went to Creekside Park in Alpine Utah to play at the park and splash pad! We look forward to exploring some more of Utah's splash pads this summer!

Summer Haircuts 
There is nothing like a fresh haircut during the summer to keep you cool. On June 29, 2014, my girls went to Great Clips and had several inches of their hair cut off and we got cupcakes at Cravings for dessert afterwards!
Before Haircuts
After Haircuts with Cupcakes

Manila Creek Pond

In July the temperatures were in the upper nineties. So the kids cooled off and made sand castles at the sandy pond that is located just a few minutes away from our house! 

Slip n' Slide

We layered the slip n' slide with a large blue tarp for extra slippery fun! The girls also added dish soap. Little brother was not a huge fan of the slip n' slide, but the girls sure had fun though!

We Love Snow Cones!

In our town, there are several snow cone shacks near downtown!  There are so many yummy flavors! 

Grilling and Fireworks

We went to Denny's for breakfast and accomplished a lot of errands during the day.  To our surprise, the outlets in Traverse Mountain had some great 4th of July sales. We bought a few things for baby brother and I got some new white sandals. Afterwards, the girls and I did 4th of July manicures and pedicures! Later that evening, we gathered at our usual spot for BBQ and fireworks with some extended family. My niece brought a playpen for the babies to hang out! Little brother absolutely loved the fireworks especially the sparklers!  He was mesmerized by anything that exploded colorful lights through the air!  Pleasant Grove does a great firework show that lasts about 30 minutes long!  It's not much of a hassle to get out of there compared to Stadium of Fire since we live down the street.

Finally Summer

Memorial Day

We were invited to go camping in Nevada, but because of little bro needing g-tube feeds during the night we decided to pass on the idea of roughing it without electricity!  So we had a very relaxing Memorial Day. First, we got up early and went to breakfast to Kneaders Bakery and Cafe since we have heard great things about their strawberry and cream french toast.  Oh boy, they were delicious!  I choose a healthier option (low sugar) on their menu the croissant egg, cheese, and ham sandwich, which was tasty as well. Afterwards, we took baby brother home for his morning nap while Daddy went fishing with his nephew in South Jordan.  Later that day, we went to Manila Pond. Little bro and big sister loved walking through the water while little sis went to a friend's house to hang out!

End of the School Year

During the last week of school, little sis had a field trip to the space center, dance festival, fun run, field day, and awards ceremony in her class, which she received the Best Day Dreamer Award and Most likely to be an Archaeologist.  As for big sister, she went to Lagoon Amusement park and got several awards such as Viking Citizen, Viking and Attendance, and Viking Scholar. In fact, big sis was on the honor roll all school year!  We are very proud of their accomplishments this past school year and hope they will continue to be successful! 

Welcome to Toddlerhood Little Bro!

As for our happy little toddler, he is making some amazing progress on milestones. He loves to pull up to stand, can stand without support for a few seconds, cruise all over the place, and scoots instead of crawling! Little bro is finally eating table foods instead of stage 2 purees and drinking cow's milk! When he gets together with our extended family, he loves playing with his second cousins!

Baby Brother is One!

 12 Incredible Months, 2014!

 Credits: Template is by The Coffee Shoppe Blog, I used the Delilah Kit by Shabby Princess and grumble for the font.
Twelve Facts about Baby Brother
1.  He gives us the best hugs and makes us smile every day!

2.  He has four sharp teeth, two adorable ears, a big head full of mischief, and a wicked chest to navel scar to show off later in life.

3.  He had three surgeries this past year three hernia repairs at three months old, a diaphragmatic hernia repair at six months old, and a g-tube placement at ten months old. We are so blessed that he was very brave and strong!

4.  He loves story time, taking a bath, music, being outdoors, clapping, and stroller rides.

5.  He can be very stubborn during physical therapy, but we cannot blame him!

6.  He can pull himself up to stand, but no signs of crawling or walking yet.

7.  His favorite toy is the $2.99 stacking cups from Ikea.

8.  He loves to rub his face on soft cuddly stuffed animals and blankets.

9.  He loves to bite his sister's knees and shoulders, ouch!

10.  He loves his puppy Jagger and shares his food with him.

11.  He is very curious, detailed oriented, and smart.

12.He is finally babbling and I cried when he said "mama" for the first time!

Happy Birthday, Brother!

We celebrated little brother's 1st birthday on May 22, 2014 at home with our little family since he doesn't like to be around big crowds. I was too lazy to bake a cake or cupcakes since most of our household was sick this past week. Unfortunately, I caught the nasty cold going around on his special day!  As you can see, he made a big mess with the blue frosting and didn't eat much! He got more a kick out of eating Cheerios with blue frosting! We bought him a few toys to help with gross motor skills (his first car to scoot on and an activity table to help him stand up). We also got him some First Builders Mega Blocks, bubbles, rubber duckies for bath time, books, and Mr. Potato Head. He was very happy and loved his new toys! What an incredible blessing to have him in our lives today! We love him so much!
Bath Time is the Best with Silly Daddy!

Milestones: On May 23, 2014, He went to his 12 month old check up. Little bro weighs 18.1 pounds (6%), 29 inches long (18%), and 18.9 (93%) inches for head circumference! Wow, he had a big head for sure and is very smart!  The doctors are not concerned with his large head because it has been measuring big all along. I'm happy that our boy is definitely growing and we are finally doing something right to get him on the weight gain path! Woohooo, Go baby brother! Keep up the great work! The doctor and I would like him to see him at 15%-20% on the weight chart at his 18 month old check up. As for gross motor skills, he loves pulling to stand, can get in and out of sitting position very well, and is very close to crawling. I bet he will be crawling any day now and then we will work on walking skills! He is making such an improvement since receiving the g-tube!  I bet the extra nightly feedings via g-tube are making a huge difference since he being properly nourished by Boost Essentials!  

Counting Down Until Lazy Summer Days!

Just a few more weeks left of school. The girls are looking forward to staying up and sleeping in late. We are hoping to keep them busy with swimming lessons and guitar lessons during the Summer.  Certainty they will hangout with their friends a lot.  Big sis and I want to start jogging together a couple times a week in the early hours before it gets hot. As a family, we would love to explore new fun outdoor places and take many trips to the parks.
Mechanical Baby Simulator Teen Living Assignment

Over a weekend for a teen living class, big sister brought home a mechanical baby doll. As you can see in the left bottom photo, she wasn't thrilled since she was rolling her eyes... She was graded on how well she handled her baby (burping, changing, feeding, rocking, head support, etc). No surprise she didn't get much sleep and was terrified to go in public with him because he was very fussy.  Not only did she put up with him crying a lot during the night, she also was woken up by her real baby brother too. After completing her assignment, she admitted to me that she prefers her real baby brother over the doll any day because the doll was very difficult (like the newborn stage, lol)!  I'm glad she got a reality check on what it's like to have a baby and hopefully she learned that parenthood is not easy at all!
End of the Year Concert 

Big Sister had her last choir concert on May 14, 2014, which was held at the high school on the football field.  While preforming on stage at the junior high on Tuesday May 13, 2014, Big sister fell down while doing an interactive dance and choir number on stage. She was very embarrassed and luckily didn't get hurt.
Playing at the neighborhood Park and Miller Park

We have been enjoying the warmer weather and taking trips to the parks! Baby brother loves being outdoors!  We love taking walks, playing sports (tossing a football and basketball), and checking out new parks. We live by two parks that are minutes away from our house. We look forward to finding other neat parks near the area that we haven't been before.
Miller Park (American Fork)

Yikes, He is Eleven Months Old

Milestones:  Life has not been easy adjusting to little brother's medical problems this past year, but I'm grateful we got through it. At this point, I am hopeful that he will be stable. He still has some catching up to do developmentally!  After his surgery, he finally started babbling more since he couldn't move around much.  He loves to clap and say "bababababa", "mmmmm", and "ma ma"! I was nearly in tears when I first heard him say "ma ma"! As for feeding, he can finally drink well through a straw and cup. I recently started him on some chopped bananas, mandarin oranges,  peas, and baby cookies since he is very sensitive to different textures.  He still eats a lot of stage 2 foods. He is very reluctant to try new foods and and hopefully get used to new textures without gagging and throwing up.  A few weeks ago, his GI doctor increased his calories and volume by adding Boost Essentials in his diet because he wasn't gaining enough weight. He didn't tolerate the new diet plan very well due to throwing up and feeling full all the time. We are still figuring out a great solution that will help him gain weight with no adverse effects. In the meantime, we may need to accept the fact that he will gain weight slowly instead of making him uncomfortable with excessive tube feedings and a lot of Boost Essentials. I think a gradual increase would make a difference. Thankfully he has so many people supporting him (dietitian, pediatrician, and OT feeding therapist).  As for gross motor skills, he can properly get in and out of sitting position and is starting to pull himself up to stand. He still isn't crawling or walking yet. In due time once he figures out how to crawl or walk, he will be very actively moving around thanks to his physical therapist and his childhood developmental specialist from Kids on the Move helping him achieve developmental goals! He is definitely as his shirt says my "First Place Champ"! I admire his strength!

I love my Tubie Baby!

Dear Son,

On March 28, 2014, after careful consideration, we proceeded with a 3rd surgery in less than a year for a G-tube placement.  For several months, you have failed to gain adequate weight due to pain from previous hernias.  As a result from the hernias, you developed poor eating behaviors such as a bottle aversion and acid reflux. You also have fallen behind developmentally, which the doctors and I believe it is due to you not getting enough nourishment. It was very scary when you would gag and throw up your entire meal, refuse your bottle, or not drink enough fluids during the day. Since three doctors encouraged us to get the G-tube, we decided it was the right solution to help you gain some weight in the following months.  Our goal is to get you 10-20% on the growth chart.  The tube hopefully will only need to be in for six months.  I intend for you to eat normal during the day and supplement as needed at night. Additionally if you throw up your meals, we will then supplement too. 

During the early morning of surgery day, you were brave, happy, and full of smiles.   In fact, when the surgical nurse wrapped you up in warm blanket and took you away to the surgery room you didn't scream at all.  After surgery when you woke up in the recovery room, I was there to cuddle you.  You were transferred to the pediatric floor and Dad and I stayed with you until you got discharged from the hospital the next day.  The surgery went a little different than the doctor expected. Due to adhesions from your previous surgeries, the surgeon had to open you up again from your precious chest scar instead of doing a laparoscopy method.

  Remarkably, you healed pretty well after three weeks and seem back to your normal routine of rolling, sitting, wanting to stand. The only complication we had was a little granulation (skin healing near the site) that had to be addressed by the doctor otherwise it has been okay adjusting to the G-tube routine.  I'm happy that you have been tolerating the night feedings well and on the days you struggle (gag and vomit) we feed you through the tube. We named your iv pole "Stanley"! Big sister and little sister are very helpful in assisting Daddy and me with your tube feedings at night. We are happy that you are gaining weight and babbling more. In due time, I bet you will catch up on gross motor skills when you are ready.

Love, Mom and Dad

Student of the Week

On April 17, 2014, little sister was student of the week. It was a total surprise for her!  The teacher's room Mom got her a purple balloon and favorite treat Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. My assignment was to write a paragraph about her and bring a picture of her.  The class had to guess the clues who the mystery person was. Sister knew right away it was her and after they guessed it correctly, little brother and I came in as her special guests. Then the class asked her questions and little brother and I got to eat school lunch with her.  Little sister was very happy and felt so special that day! 

The following paragraph is what I wrote about her:
Savannah Jolene Free was excited to join her family. In fact, she came four weeks early on April 15, 2003.  Savannah is the middle child.  She has an older sister Audrey and little baby brother Zachary.  She also has a small poodle dog named Jagger, which she loves to cuddle, run outside with him, and help feed him.  Savannah is unique because since birth she had one stubborn kidney that didn’t want to grow.  It is a functioning tiny kidney that is only 3 cm long and thankfully she also has a normal growing kidney too.  Since Savannah was a baby she had curly locks and loved to smile.  Her hobbies include the following: listening to music by One Direction and Taylor Swift, reading, helping Mom with her little brother, playing card or board games with her family, and doing anything creative such as drawing, sculpting, and painting.  Her favorite foods are strawberries, Nutella on toast, cheese, and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.  Savannah is silly, polite, helpful, kind, and sensitive. The world is a brighter place with Savannah’s beautiful smiling face!  XOXO