Christmas Fun

Charity saying good morning to everyone.

Josiah opening his stocking.

Charity opening her stocking with Papi.
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This Christmas was really special... having a 2 (almost 3) year old, that really understood that we were celebrating Jesus' birthday, being so thankful for Josiah's health as we celebrated his first Christmas, and all that we have been blessed with. It was a really fun day. We started the day bright and early when the kids woke up at 6:30...ugh! Troy and I were so tired! Oh well! Here are some highlights of our day.

• The kids looked so cute in their new jammies.
• We had our traditional Christmas breakfast, Grammies' Cobblestone cake, and egg casseroles wtih my family.
• We had a birthday cake for Jesus. Charity was so proud to blow out the candles.
• Every gift Charity opened was her favorite. She was so sweet... and had to play with everything as it was opened. She was very thankful... made her parents proud!
• Josiah enjoyed his wrapping paper as he opened gifts.
• LONG nap after everyone left!
• Delicious dinner and Lillian's House with Grandma and Papa.
• A walk in the wagon before bed... we saw our neighbors outside having a snowball fight and we were able to feel some snow! (2 days in a row after sledding and playing in the snow at church on Christmas Eve)
• Early bed times for all of us!

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Cheesy Christmas Smile

Enjoying some play time... with sister's shoes (gross)

Playing with new toys... magnetic dress up princess dolls.

Merry Christmas

Make a Smilebox postcard

Charity's First Hair Cut

I took Charity to get her very first hair cut today. We went to Cool Cuts 4 Kids ('cause its pretty close to the house.) They do a special thing for the first cut... a lock of hair and a special picture of the client in the "chair"! Then the lady did Charity's hair and put in a pretty bow! The kids sit in a special chair and they can watch a movie and for the older kids they can play xbox 360. Nice expereince for a first hair cut. Here are some pictures of our little beauty.

Silliness

The last few weeks have been so much fun and extra silly... just wanted to share a few picture highlights.

Here is a video of my little crawler!! 3 days of crawling!! We are so excited to have our mister mobile... he is getting pretty heavy to carry around these days!

Silly Charity after a day of braids (yes, she is sitting on the potty!)

Charity testing out her skills as a photographer!

Celebrating Advent with the kids is imortant to us! The first Sunday of advent we talked about the angel coming to Mary and telling her about having God's special son and naming him Jesus... we ate the lesson in biscuts during dinner!


Josiah's discovery of the tupperware cupboard... the stuff was everywhere!!

Holiday Recipe Exchange!

We had so much fun getting together and tasting all the wonderful creations!!

Mmmmm!

Preparing our Hearts

The month of December is such a fun time as we prepare for Christmas. It is hard not to smile at all the beautiful decorations and the twinkle lights (one of my personal favs), even when there are hundreds of people pushing their way through Target and you could totally kick yourself for needing dishwasher soap!! Through all the madness, I find myself feeling so excited. I am so enjoying seeing Charity learning about God's special gift to us, his son Jesus. She is taking it all in, and watching everything that we do as well... Are we embracing Jesus, or the shopping season? Hmmmm, makes me really think about all that I do, keeping my heart in check!! I am happy to say that we are keeping it simple and I hope that we are showing our children that Christmas is about our savior being born on that very first Christmas. We are doing some special advent activities this year to help teach the Christmas story and I really want to have a birthday cake for Jesus on Christmas (Charity really loves and understands the concept of birthdays). We'll see! In our efforts to really embrace the Love, Joy and Peace of this season, we have been having a lot of fun doing special things!! Making Christmas cards and special gifts for our friends and family, having a recipe party to exchange fun holiday recipes and fellowship with good friends, cooking together, singing Christmas carols, and enjoying walks and looking at all the beautiful (and crazy) decorations!! All in all, I know the desire of my heart is to come before my King and give him the very best of me.

The Little Things

It's the little things in life that makes it so meaningful. We have really enjoyed the last few weeks watching Josiah blossom into an energetic, curious little boy, and Charity a protective, mothering big sister! Here are some of the little things that we have enjoyed in the last three weeks since Josiah's surgery.


Josiah had his 9 month well visit yesterday with Dr. Kipp, Dr. Chip as Charity calls him. The kids both got flu shots and Josiah had his finger prick to test for anemia... which it turns out he is anemic. When I took him to the lab to get additional blood drawn and he was crying, Charity got up and shouted at the nurses that were holding his arm, "HEY, STOP IT RIGHT NOW! THAT'S MY BROTHER! NO HURTING HIM!" It was a very sweet defense on his behalf! So, JT will be taking liquid iron drops and his nurse, Connie, says that he should be a huge bundle of energy when his iron gets back up to normal. She said we are probably going to see another exciting few weeks like these because he'll be feeling so great! Get ready!!!

Charity sang in her first on stage performance at church last Thursday for our last women's bible study. Let me just say... she is such a teacher's kid!! Also, she loves singing... and on the stage... heaven in Charity land!

Josiah had to have an emergency sink bath as a result of poop up the back... fun!! EWWWW!! Well, he had fun in the sink! Charity ended up in a kitchen sink bath too! She got out the finger paints in the play room and used it as lotion... on her hands and new pants.

Charity also has started using a new phrase to express when something is shocking or disappointing. She first said it the other night at dinner. I don't even remember what we were all talking about, but all of a sudden Charity pipes up, "Oh man! That's CRAZY!" We almost fell off our chairs. I have no idea where she heard that phrase, but she has been using it, and I laugh every time!

Josiah has been rocking on his hands and knees!! Hooray for crawling!! I can't wait to not have to carry around my gigantic boy. (At his Dr. appointment he weighed 23 lbs!! Charity only weighs 25!)



Charity has taken to coloring before bed, which works out because it's hard for a 2 year old to be quiet! It's the cutest thing... she lays on the playroom floor on her tummy and colors. In fact the last few nights, she has snuck out of bed and gone in the playroom and continued. Last night Troy and I were celebrating that she stayed in bed, after a long week so far of getting out, and I looked up and spotted the playroom light. So much for that!

All in all, I am enjoying these moments as they are happening, instead of in hinds sight. I want to embrace everything along life's way, knowing full well that I have a wonderful savior that is embracing these moments with me. Looking forward to what lies ahead!

So Thankful

We had our post-op appointment with Josiah's new doctor (nurse practitioner) on Wednesday. We brought Charity with us so that she could see where we've been taking brother, and allow her to see his "ouch" so that she would remember to be extra gentle when we got home. It worked... she was very concerned when he got his bandages removed! The NP said that the incisions looked really good (I thought they were a little scary... its my baby!) and she removed all the bandages. We were glad that we could finally give stinky boy a bath!! Josiah now has sitting up privledges and can start moving about as he pleases. He is making new gains everyday... they still shock me especially since just a few short weeks ago we had no idea there was anything wrong and his delevlopment seemed prefectly normal. Yesterday he was rocking on his hands and knees (Yeah for crawling... he is a BIG boy to carry around everywhere!), he is dancing sitting up and laying down, and he is just down-right curious about EVERYTHING now!! It is a lot of fun. We have so much to be thankful for, and continue to seek the Lord as we adjust to our new reality. Extra bonus... when we left the doctor's office, Charity got stickers... a lot of stickers!! The NP let her pick out a whole bunch, and she had them all over her before she even got in the car! I am so thankful for all these precious moments.

Josiah's Shunt

"Boating"

We went today and fulfilled our civic responsibility of voting... bummer for Charity, she interperted it as boating and wanted to wear her swim suit. Luckily she recieved a sticker from the polls to make up for the mix-up!! Better than nothing right! Any how, we had a fun voting trip. Charity left her mark on the sign on the table that gives the voting instructions while I was filling out my ballot... And Josiah enjoyed eating the corner of the table! I wasn't paying attention, oops! Over all, it was a great expereince, no lines and we had fun!!

Trick or Treat

This year for Halloween the kids dressed up and Charlie Brown and Lucy VanPelt from the Peanuts gang. I decided that I wanted to make their costumes... yes, I am officially crazy!! Josiah's was pretty easy, I just painted a yellow onsie, shorts, and made sure he had some yellow socks... Charity on the other hand, was not so easy. I decided I was going to sew her dress. So, I went to the fabric store and found the material that I wanted and brought it home to get started. The first step, washing, ironing and cutting out the pattern was no big deal... Then I got out the sewing machine... and got really frustrated for a few hours on the scrap material. I can laugh now, at the time I wanted to drop kick the machine out of my house!! Needless to say, I finally got it to work, and it turned out so cute.

Boo At The Zoo

Playing with Pumpkins

We started our Halloween time last weekend when we went to Boo at the Zoo with Olsen's. Charity had fun playing all the fun games they had set up and seeing the pumpkins in animal cages. It was Josiah's first time seeing pumpkins and he thought they were pretty neat!

Lucy Van Pelt (aka Charity)

We had a great time taking Josiah and Charity trick-or-treating around the neighborhood. JT was such a good boy and layed flat in his stroller as we walked around (since he can't sit up right much right now) and Charity enjoyed knocking on the doors saying "sucker treat"! It was so cute! Then we came in and ate pizza and chocolate pie with the Miles' family. It was a great day... and we were especially excited that Josiah was able to wear his costume

Charlie Brown (aka Josiah)

"The Hunt Shunt"

After a LONG Sunday night, Monday morning finally came!! We arrived at the hospital at 6 am and got all checked in with admission. In the waiting room Josiah made a friend... Anderson. He is a six year old with Downs syndrome... he was the sweetest!! We got called back to pre-op to take measurements and talk to all the Docs that would be assisting in the surgery. Josiah had fun playing on the bed and looking around at all of the Halloween decorations ...

Our Doctor was a little late... but when he finally arrived we were off and running... He thought that he would be able to access JT's MRI from Banner Desert, and when he couldn't he decided that he needed to do a quick MRI right then. It was called a "one banger". It took about 3 minutes, and it wasn't JT's favorite 3 minutes, but we made it. Then, of course after all that he was ready for surgery. The dreaded moment to hand him over loomed before us. It was extremely hard. We had to trust God completely to care for our son. We had great family support in the waiting room with us. After about an hour the doctor came out and told Troy (I was in the bathroom, of course the one moment that I leave...) that the surgery went great, he relived a lot of pressure, and the surgery was really necessary. We got to see him a half hour later... he was very out of it, but so glad to see us! His incisions are very small and look really good.

Our nurses were AMAZING and cared for our whole family so great... Josiah was so charming in the hospital that the nurses would come in and visit him as he was laying in the bed playing. He has had a great recovery so far... to God's glory!! Josiah has been so covered in prayer, I know that God has been present all along the way.

Our ride home was a little rough yesterday... we got almost all the way home and Josiah started throwing-up... not a good thing when you have a shunt... so I called the doctor and the nurse told me that it is pretty normal for kids to get sick on the ride home.

So, the fun part... Josiah is already showing some noticeable changes as a result of the relief from all the pressure... he is becoming more verbal, he seems so much happier, and he is trying to crawl!!! The next few weeks we have to keep him on his back a lot more so that his soft spot doesn't sink while his brain learns how to regulate under normal pressure. He remains a "mama's boy" and doesn't really want me out of his sight! But right now, I don't mind!

We continue to have so much to be thankful for! Please keep praying for our family... Josiah's healing and that his shunt is so awesome that it will work for life, for Charity, as she is learning about her brother "illness", and will sometimes have to be extremely patient as we care for JT, and for Troy and I as we hand our kids daily over to the lord for protection and peace.

An Unexpected Blessing

It's funny how in one moment, reality as you know it can change completely. That's how Troy and I felt last Thursday when Josiah was diagnosed with severe Hydrocephalus (water on the brain). There is not a whole lot known about Hydrocephalus, and as a result there is no cure. Fortunately there is a way to treat it... a shunt that will be inserted in his brain and will drain the fluid from his head down into his tummy and intestines to be absorbed by his body. This surgery will be taking place on Monday, October 27 @ 7:30am.



Understanding the science, of course, is hard but fascinating... probably would be more so if it wasn't happening to our baby! But, there is so much that gives us hope and comfort in this hard time. I am so excited to share the many blessings that we have received as a result of this experience so far...

The most comforting thing of all is that we can clearly see God at work in all that has happened. It is a total bummer that we will go through this, but amazing to know that even though our reality changed, God knew it all along!! In my Thursday morning women's bible study at church, I am in a small group with 4 nurses that work at PCH!!! Thanks to them, I know that Josiah will receive the best nursing care!

Our family has gathered around us to pray for us and offer love and support, as well as our church family. I can't even express how many people have offered to help with Charity, meals, and anything else we could possile need. Even my "old" work family and Peralta Trail Elementary have come along side our family to help and pray!! It is so humbling to realize how many people God has placed in our lives to be an encouragement to us!

I know that it can be so hard to understand why tough things happen, but in our case I am excited to say that we are fully depending on God, and in that hope, we will all come out stonger and refined to be a light in the world for His glory.

I am so thankful for all our wonderful family and friends!! Thank you for praying for us (I don't think it is possible to have too much.) Thank you for being a reflection of Jesus as you have come along side to encourage us!