Little Man is Eight Months Old!

Wow, eight months has flew by so fast and my little boy is getting so long and lean! It has been a struggle these last several months because of little brother's health issues and at the same time he has been a great blessing in our lives!  Having a baby with so many health problems is very frightening for me especially since I suffer with anxiety. He has definitely taught me patience!  For the last several months, my baby has been on feeding and nap strikes, which is very stressful for a Mother who is trying her best.  There were many dark moments when I was at my wits end or thought I was being pushed to my limit. I said many prayers to get through the most difficult days when my little man refused to drink his bottle (the days he only consumed 10 oz of breast milk in 24 hours, ack).  I recall he had feeding issues since he was two weeks old after we discovered his first hernia because he refused to nurse and didn't drink much bottle. So I have been diligently pumping six times a day so that my baby can benefit from the breast milk.  It has been difficult and time consuming to exclusively pump breast milk! I have suffered with mastitis, clogged ducts, blisters, and cracked sore nipples from the breast pump.  I groan or drift to sleep during my 5:00 AM pumping sessions, so that I can "sleep feed" my little one before he wakes up. Certainly, he has been in a lot of pain during his short precious life, which explains his horrible feeding behaviors.  The doctors and I believe he has developed a conditioned bottle aversion because it hurt so much to drink most of his life. I have been working with a dietitian and feeding therapist to address his feeding issues. We will be following up with a pediatric gastric-intestinal specialist next week. In the mean time, I am happy if he consumes 24 oz of breast milk a day while sleeping! The biggest fear for me is when he starts decreasing the number of naps during the day. Currently he takes three naps a day... As for his gross motor skills, I was referred to Kids on the Move, which is an early intervention program for infants and toddlers with developmental delays. Little brother was recently evaluated by a child developmental therapist. She determined that he needs physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy. In the next few weeks, we will be very busy with those appointments, which will take place at home, thankfully. I love how Kids on the Move will come to me instead of me going to their clinic. Lastly, we met with a genetic specialist, which I will blog more later. Basically, my husband John, little sister, and little brother have Marks and Finlay Syndrome...
Six Months Old

Milestones: At six months old, little brother was failing to thrive. He was 13 lbs. 5 oz., 26. 1/4 inches long, and 44.5 cm for head circumference. The doctor encouraged me to calorie pack by fortifying my breast milk and introduce other table foods such as fruits and veggies. He hated drinking the fortified breast milk. In fact, he would flat out refuse the bottle if he tasted it!  So I just went back to regular breast milk and fortified his milk with his solids, which he didn't notice. Luckily, he likes the stage one veggies and fruits mixed in with cereal, which helps him receive some added nutrition in his diet.   As for his gross motor skills, he was sat up with assistance, banged toys together, and laughed when we threw a cup. Sadly, he stopped rolling over around 4.5 months, which I thought was due to wanting to do other things. After his second hernia surgery, a doctor in the hospital told me to have him checked out because a normal baby just won't stop rolling over especially after mastering the skill.  The doctors and I believe he was weak and uncomfortable from his diaphragmatic hernia, which I don't blame him. I cannot imagine how much pain he has been in for the last several months dealing with hernia pressure on his vital organs!
Seven Months Old
Milestones: He is slowly gaining weight and barely below 0 on the growth weight chart for his age. He was 14 lbs. and 7 oz. on December 26, 2013. He continues to eat fruits, veggies, and cereals. To our surprise, he is not a huge fan of pears and had a reaction to berries. His diet includes the following: custards, sweet potatoes, and avocados to help him gain weight.  The doctor prescribed him acid reflux medicine Zantac, which seems to help with the volume of feedings, however, he still continues to consume most of his liquids during a sleep state. He will sit up for a few minutes and then fall over due to weak core muscles.  At a post surgery check up appointment from our pediatrician Dr. Cox, we decided to get many other specialists involved such as a genetics, GI doctor, feeding therapist, Kids on the move, etc.
Eight Months Old

Milestones: On January 23, 2013, he was 14 lbs. 15 oz and 1% on the growth weight chart. He still struggles with his bottle feedings, however, he will drink a couple ounces while awake on his own. The doctor recommended that I fortify his milk again, which he is doing okay with it. I am crossing my fingers that he will continue to drink his milk with formula.  Every little bit that helps increase his calorie intake will make a huge difference!  Our happy little boy is rolling over again, yay!  Once he figured out it no longer hurts to roll over he is moving all over the place!  He still hates tummy time though, which we need to work on with physical therapy. Little brother isn't sitting up unsupported very well because he arches his back and falls over, which can be very scary or dangerous.  In due time, he will master sitting up. I started some simple sign language to help with his communication. As for fine motor skills, he is starting to grasp at small objects and clap his hands. Slowly, he is making some progress and definitely makes us smile every single day. We love our little man!

Princess School: Daddy Daughter Date

Princess and King Free

The beautiful invitation was made by little sister and her activity day leaders:

Once upon a time, little sister had a daddy date on September 27, 2013. It was held at a nearby church, which our daughter's activity day leaders put together. First, each princess were formally introduced to their "king" with a paragraph about their hobbies and interests while wearing a crown, tutu skirt, and sash, which they made during previous activity days.

On each table there were royal King and Princess name cards.

 They ate a lovely dinner (coconut chicken, mashed potatoes, beans, rolls). As for dessert, they ate pretty cupcakes and rainbow jello.  For the activities, they did Princess School, which included the following subjects:  fencing balloon pop, dancing, making caramel apples, building a castle out of gigantic Legos, and the Kings had to walk in Princesses shoes (large shoe sizes but nothing fit King Free).  It was evident that they had a marvelous time since they came home "happily ever after" with smiles on their faces! 
  What a fun enchanting activity for Dads and daughters, which they will never forget!

December 2013 was a busy month!

December 2013 was also an eventful and stressful month for our household. We had several events and doctor appointments going on each week such as state report homework, Festival of Trees, choir concerts, young woman activities, little brother stayed at the hospital, followed up with doctor appointments, big sis got her braces off, and celebrated baby's first Christmas.  I cannot believe how fast this month went by since we were extremely busy!

State Report
At the last minute, hubby and I helped complete little sister's state report (we were up most the night, ugh). She did the state of Illinois for her report and hopefully learned her lesson to never procrastinate ever again! Around the same time, we had horrible internet issues, which finally got resolved three weeks later, grrrr! We actually had to go to the public library since we couldn't research at home.

Festival of Trees
For Big sister's foods class at school, she went on a field trip to see the Festival of Trees in Salt Lake City. Her favorite Christmas tree was the Audrey Hepburn Breakfast at Tiffany's and Toy Story display.

Christmas Choir Concerts

Big sis had a chamber choir concert at school while little sis performed at a local mall, nursing home, and her elementary school. According to Dad, they both did a great job! I wasn't able to attend due to little brother not feeling well and went to the hospital. 

Temple Square

For Young Woman activities, big Sis went to Salt Lake City to see the Christmas lights at Temple Square and went ice skating at Seven Peaks.

Little Bro's Second Hernia Surgery

At 3:00 AM on December 11, 2013, Baby brother was struggling to breathe and we noticed a very loud rattle in his chest. We took him to the ER at American Fork Hospital, which he was admitted for bronchiolitis, swine flu, and Morgagni diaphragmatic hernia. He had to be life flight via helicopter to Utah Valley Hospital so that he could be treated by several pediatric specialists.  The next day he struggled to breathe on high flow oxygen maxed out while fighting his two viruses and the doctors feared he was too weak for surgery.  He had an x-ray on Thursday afternoon that showed that his hernia was larger, shifting his heart to the right, putting pressure on his trachea, and stomach. At that point, most the doctors feared he would crash eventually if he didn't get surgery right away because he was literally using all his energy to breathe (it was very scary to watch his chest rise and fall with labored breathing). So his team of doctors decided it was time to repair his hernia even though it was extremely risky due to his low immune system. To our surprise, little bro was remarkable during surgery and had zero complications! The doctor pulled his intestines out of his chest and repaired the hole in his diaphragm, which was under his liver.  Unexpectedly, he recovered fully from surgery and his viruses after a few days.  His pain was managed well, he ate up to four ounces of bottle, and he voided many diapers. He was discharged from the hospital on Monday December 15, 2013. What a strong little man and amazingly, I remained calm during this whole experience due to our baby receiving two healing priesthood blessings from my husband and family members. I knew he was very sick the day before he went to the hospital.  I had an emotional melt down and looked at my precious son in the eyes and said, "You fight for your life!" My faith and many prayers kept me strong!  On December 26 and 27, 2013, he met with his surgeon and pediatrician. Little bro will need to follow up with a feeding therapist, physical therapist, gastric intestinal specialist, and genetic specialist. He also got a prescription for acid reflux, which hopefully will improve his bottle feedings.  It is still unknown what caused his birth defects (four hernias, wow) or if he has some sort of syndrome, but we are hopeful he will continue to live a normal and happy life with help from many medical professionals. Sadly, he starting to fall behind on some major milestones and needs help gaining weight.  He unfortunately has a "conditioned" bottle aversion (I think when he drinks the bottle he is afraid of pain or may have bad acid reflux since he gags, spits ups, and coughs a lot after consuming his bottle) So we will address his feeding issues by a feeding therapist. As for his weak muscles, he many need help from a physical therapist to help him to accomplish his major gross motor skills such as rolling over and sitting up again, and future ones such as crawling, standing, and walking.  He will be evaluated by Kids on the Move and they may have other services available to him.  I am confident he will catch up on milestones and gain weight in the near future! 

No More Braces
On December 19, 2013, big sister finally got her braces off. Look at that gorgeous smile! She has to wear a clear retainer for the next six months!  That smile is worth every dime! She is very pretty!

No Place Like Home for the Holidays
One of our friends sent this Santa letter photograph to us, which they saw at a local elementary school. It said, "Dear Santa, Can you please give Zachary Free a good Christmas. He is very sick and in the hospital. Also I ask you to help him have a Merry Christmas." Isn't that adorable? We are so grateful for the love and service that our friends, family, and neighbors did for us during our time of need!

Baby's First Christmas

Having little brother home for Christmas was the greatest gift of all for us since he was expected to stay at the hospital for a couple weeks. It was a great blessing that he healed very quickly because of many prayers, positive thoughts, and well wishes. We had a peaceful and lazy Christmas day. My father in-law stopped by to visit, which was strange not having my mother in-law here for Christmas. We enjoyed spending time with him. Baby brother loved his new toys and clothes. The girls enjoyed spending family time watching new Disney movies, eating ham and cheesy potatoes leftovers, and drinking hot chocolate, etc.  

Bring on 2014!!!

I recall my husband lost his job earlier during the year and four months later was blessed with a great job opportunity. In June 2012, I suffered a miscarriage while this year we were blessed with a strong baby boy that joined our family in May.  Little brother has gone through two major surgeries and was such a trooper during both of them. My mother in-law fought cancer for six months and passed away peacefully in November. She is now our guardian angel who will watch over us always. After a year of challenges, sorrows, and triumphs, we can truly see that the Lord has blessed us in our lives. We are looking forward to seeing what 2014 adventures will bring us! Happy New Year!!!

Welcome Home Angel: Isabel Worthen Free

November was an eventful month of sickness and heavy sorrows in our household. We started off the month with terrible colds after the sugar rush of Halloween candy (I think sugar definitely lowered our immune systems). Anyway, John had a sinus infection, baby brother had an ear infection in addition to teething pain, I was sick with a sinus head cold, and little sister caught some cootie too. Luckily, big sister dodged the sickness by loading up on vitamin C and keeping her distance from the rest of us.  Next, we found out some heart wrenching news about my Mother in-law. Since May after my mother in-law's thyroid cancer treatments, she struggled to eat due to inflamed vocal chords and had to breath through a tracheotomy. To say she was discouraged was the least of her feelings, she suffered with horrible pain and anxiety of fear of suffocating and chocking to death every day. She lost several pounds over the period of six months. To our surprise, some other tumors were discovered in her throat and sadly spread to her lobes of her lungs in October 2013. After many prayers and mediating, she and my Father in-law decided to fight the cancer with another round of radiation and chemotherapy. After a week of intense cancer treatments and unexpectedly as a result of her pain drugs, she hallucinated and tumbled down a large flight of stairs on November 12, 2013 a day after her 79th birthday. She suffered with a crack skull and a lot of internal brain bleeding. She was unconscious. So her loving husband and all eight children gathered beside her hospital bed to express their love and say their good byes. The family made a very heartbreaking and difficult decision to place her in hospice care, which she died peacefully with dignity and pain free surrounded by her loved ones.

On November 19,2013, my Facebook status said the following: Heaven has welcomed home an incredible, courageous, humble, beautiful, and strong woman. Our lives will never be the same without her radiant smile and tender hugs. It was a marvelous privilege and blessing to know her. She was a wonderful example to all and touched many lives. I especially admired her faith, love, determination, and fierce strength during her final days on earth. I will always remember and love you sweet Isabel Free my dear Mother in-law, friend, Grandmother, and Mother to my husband John.

She had a viewing in Mesa Arizona on November 21, 2013 and the funeral, burial, and luncheon was on Saturday November 23, 2013 in Panaca, Nevada. Since John had three days of bereavement pay from work, we checked the girls out early from school on Thursday and drove down to southern Utah to stay in Cedar City for a few nights. We planned on seeing Zion's National Park before meeting up with other family members on Friday afternoon at a Cabin and Condo in Brian Head, Utah. We got a hotel room at the Comfort Inn, which is pet friendly. The first night we went swimming and watched TV in our room. As we slumbered, it snowed a huge blanket of snow. Our plans of exploring Zions was cancelled instead we went shopping for winter gear. The next day we met up with tons of family members for dinner and everyone checked in with us at the same hotel due to the snowstorms. Due to the heavy snow, those without four wheel drive wouldn't make it up the canyon and we were all worried about not making it to the funeral in time the next morning.

We got up early, packed, and headed to Nevada for the funeral services. The girls and I had two perform two musical numbers with the whole family and other women descendants of  my mother in-law. We sang The Lord is My Shepherd.  The whole family tearfully sang Love is Spoken Here. Audrey was honored to speak briefly about her Grandmother during the funeral. Her talk was based on a wonderful scripture reference, which somebody found a sticky note of it in my mother in-law's purse after she passed away. The scripture stated: "Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you." Philippians 4:9.
 The following is Audrey's talk, which she read at the funeral:

Grandma Free had many talents. She was deadly at any dice games, great at puzzles, loved to bake, crotchet, played music, served others, and always had faith. As a result of all her many talents, she loved to teach her grandchildren many things.

Even though I am not a huge fan of playing games Grandma has taught me and my sister Savannah how to play Chinese checkers, Mormon bridge, and Uno. As far as putting puzzles together that takes patience, which Grandma had and I am still working on.

One of the many things grandma has taught me is that you can never have enough food to eat. I'm kidding but she did teach me that. For example, whenever I was at her house she always offered me food because she teased me saying I looked like a stick of bones. She always had the best homemade baked goodies such bread, Cinnamon rolls, cookies, etc. I hope someday I will bake just like Grandma did!

She taught me how to crotchet and play the piano, but I unfortunately forgot how to do those things. However, I enjoyed listening to her play church hymns on the piano and will always cherish my baby blanket, which she made for me.

Some of my favorite memories of grandma were when we served others. I loved how whenever we have big family reunions we were always doing service. For example, we have tied quilts, painted fences, made special packages for missionaries, etc. A couple years ago while visiting grandma and grandpa in Paragonah, my family went on a Sunday drive with them. We ended up at a dusty desert area where two trailer homes were located. We saw little kids, dogs, and cats everywhere.  Grandma and grandpa got out of their truck and started talking to them. We all talked for a while and grandpa introduced them to us and I learned that they were people in their ward who recently moved in.  We then gave them some dinner and desserts. Grandma taught me how to serve and love one another.

I have always admired grandma's faith. She set a good example to me by reading scriptures, attending the temple, serving missions, and always having faith that everything will be okay. She also taught me to have Faith in Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and Faith in myself. She has inspired me in so many ways.

The last most important thing grandma has taught me is gratitude.  She taught me to be so grateful for all the wonderful blessings that I have in my life. I apply this to my own life by having faith, doing service for others, loving one another, and being grateful. I am so glad that I learned so much from grandma and I hope to teach others the same things. I feel so comforted to have the knowledge that she will always be watching over us and we will see her again.

After the funeral the whole family about 72 of us went to Brian Head, which was a winter wonderland to stay at a family member's cabin or Condo. We had a lovely time together. The women and children honored Granny by wearing her moo moo dresses!

It was truly a celebration honoring such an amazing woman who left behind a wonderful legacy, which we will never forget and will try each day to follow her great example! We love you, Grandma! 

DIY Animals and Cars Baby's Nursery and Baby Essentials

We finally finished the nursery!  During the last few months of my pregnancy, I decided to make some things for my baby boy.  To be honest, these projects were my "nesting" activities so I went a little overboard, lol. I fell absolutely in love with the cutest nursery fabric called "Animals in Cars" from Joann's Fabric!  So I decorated my baby boy's nursery and made baby essentials coordinating with the animals and cars nursery fabric theme. I was able to find many things from thrift shops for cute decorations such shelves, hooks, pillows, picture frames, his dresser, and chair.  In addition, the nursery essentials and decorations were made by doing several DIY projects that I found on Pinterest. With help from my awesome sister in-law Marilee, we made some incredible baby stuff for my baby boy (beach balls, crinkle baby tag blankets, and a baby blanket)! I also made pillows, bibs, burp rags, receiving blanket and an owl, clouds, and hot air balloon baby mobile!

I Spy Quilt (Animals in Cars and Tools)
We were inspired by Obsessively Stitching Blog to make an I Spy Quilt!  We made our patches 5X5 instead of 4X4. My blanket turned out to be the size of the crib and perfect for baby to play on the floor!

The Baby Pillows

I found pillows and stuffing from a local thrift store for my stuffing, which is a total money saver compared to buying it bulk at the store. I used the following tutorial and template: How to Sew The Slip Stitch and Owl Plushie Template.

Baby Mobile
I was inspired by Craftiness is not Optional to make our own DIY baby mobile.  I hand stitched felt owls, clouds, and hot air balloons by using embroidery thread. I even stuffed them with fiberfill.  I used the following templates: Owl Templates and Hot Air Balloons and Clouds Templates.

Garland
Instead of a curtain or valence, I decided to hang a garland/pennet above the window and below the picture frames or shelves! Here is where I got the Template and Tutorial.

Wall and Shelf  Picture Frames

Boy Subway Art is from Simple Scrapper.
 Button "Z" Wall Art- I glued on tons of buttons that matched his room.
Free vintage owl, elephant, and monkey printables are from Hand Made Home

 Nursery fabric wall art on canvas- I was inspired by Blue Cricket Design
I spray painted a plain picture frame to a blue color and a chalk board to green.
Book Shelves
I bought a couple spice racks from Ikea and spray painted them green, blue, and orange. I bought all the shelves from a thrift store. By the way, the white clock is from Ikea.

"Z "book shelf  decoration (I bought the cardboard Z from a craft store and used Mod Podge to stick the fabric over the letter Z).

Crinkle Baby Tag Blankets 

I used the following tutorial Baby Tag Blanket Tutorial and 8X8 template.

Fabric Beach Balls
 Templates and tutorial are from The Purl Bee.

Car Seat Cover

The matching car seat cover was made by one of my daughter's friends, which happened to be made out of the same fabric we used. It is a perfect car seat cover for on the go!

Receiving Blanket 
I made a rounded  receiving blanket following this tutorial: Receiving Blanket Tutorial. I use this blanket in my baby's car seat!

Burp Clothes and Bibs 
Burp Clothe Tutorial is from Cloud Nine Fabrics
Chenille Bib Tutorial and Template
Bib Tutorial and Template

I'm pleased with my several sewing projects even though they are flawed or not perfect after all I am just a newbie learning how to sew! I look forward to making some other new cute things in the future!

Family of Five Plus Dog Photo Shoot

Since we are now a family of five and have an almost two year old bichon frise poodle mix dog, we felt it was time to get some updated family photographs. Our oldest daughter has a friend who is aspiring to be photographer someday so we gave her the opportunity to take our pictures. We decided on a navy blue, white, grey, and teal color pallet for our photo shoot. We picked a perfect spot to do the photo shoot at Kiwanis Park near Battle Creek Trail head in Pleasant Grove, Utah.

 It was a lovely autumn afternoon! The leaves were absolutely gorgeous with the sun shining above us! I love glow of the sun light that is seen in some of these photographs!

The pictures turned out great even though little brother was not very photogenic that day and became grumpy at the end while Jagger (our dog) would sometimes not look at the photographer while she took the photographs.

My three little Monsters

On October 30, 2013, we made some spooky food since John had to work and big sis had a party on Halloween.  Big sister was in charge of dinner. She made mummy hot dogs, ghost bananas, orange slices, veggies, and ranch dip.  For dessert, we bought a pumpkin and cheese cake roll and made witch hats out of cookies, kisses, and clear frosting from a tube. During that same evening, John made a killer spicy hot chili for his work contest! In fact, he won first place in the chili contest and received $50 dollars for his prize, woohoo! As for our Halloween costumes, John and I were super Dad and Mom, big sister was the famous classy Audrey Hepburn from Breakfast and Tiffany's, little sis was cute bat, and little brother was an awesome skeleton.  We either bought things from the Dollar Store or thrift stores. Some things were hand me downs from a friend. The kids and I went trick or treating at my husband's work instead of walking around the neighborhoods.  They got plenty of candy from John's work and corn dogs from Sonic! Little sister, little brother, and I watched some Halloween movies after trick or treating!  What fun Halloween memories we made this year!

John and I basically wore clothes from our closets expect for my blue tutu was homemade.  For our accessories, we used things around the house such as belts, diapers, pacifiers, receiving blankets (capes), and made a holster out of foam for the bottles (just stapled it together) !  We bought the bottles, glasses, and foam paper from the dollar store. We got the super hero printables from Super Dad and Super Mom and paste them on the foam material.

The pretty Audrey Hepburn costume included the following: an elegant black dress with fake diamonds, black heels, and gloves were from a thrift shop.  She borrowed the earrings, and necklaces from me. Her hair and make were done by her friend.

As for the bat girl costume, it was all homemade by my friend who no longer needed it. It included the following  bat wings, ears (hat), and eye mask. Her black nails, hair, and make up was done by me. She wore a black shirt, sweats, witch headband from a thrift store, and carried a bouncy bat decoration toy.

Lastly, little brother wore a skeleton outfit for his first Halloween costume, which was given to us by a friend. We bought a black winter hat and sock shoes from Old Navy.