Happy Birthday Collin!!!!

Guess who is a brand new little two year old today??? This kid can be the biggest little turkey and the most adorable little guy all at once. He is learning new words every day and his talking can make just about anyone melt or laugh. When you ask him who loves him, he will list off his family and friends that he knows love him (and it is a LONG list.) I think of Collin's birth mom today and the amazing decision she made to change and bless our lives forever. I know someday she will want to to meet him,
but I have no doubt she is thinking of him today. 

I feel bad that we are all sick for his special day, but in three weeks when our family are back in town, we will party-hearty!!! Happy Birthday Collin, we love you so much and feel tremendously blessed to be your mom and dad!!! Can not wait to see what the next year holds for you sweet boy!

Calling for Mercy

Did you ever play the game when you were a kid with your hands where you are trying to get the other person's arm turned out and when you do they call out mercy or uncle? I realize I am not explaining it the best, but that could be I have not had a whole lot of sleep. My point is that I am calling Uncle, or mercy, or whatever I need to. Collin was really sick this weekend, so I took him to the doctor and had to drag Jacob along, which was ironic since Jacob ended up being more sick. The doctor said it sounded like he had bronchiolitis so he ordered suctioning. Well than he quickly got very sick, and we ended up in the ER, where we discovered that despite the RSV vaccine he had been getting, he somehow managed to test RSV positive. They shipped us north to another hospital because our pediatric unit at our hospital was in divert. We were there until early afternoon, when they sent us home.

Jacob has been one sick baby. His oxygen saturations drop when it has been too long between suctioning, and he has been breathing 60+ times a minute (usually around 70-90 and had been over 100) and he has been retracting periodically. He has had a fever and from Friday evening until Sunday could not sleep longer than 30-40 minutes if we were lucky. I took him back to the doctor today. He offered to put him back into the hospital. But he gave the option too of just doing what we have been doing at home but to also have a suction machine (so we can suction as needed without having to go to the hospital) and than with our doctor calling to check on him daily.

He has been super sleepy today which is better than him not being able to rest. It breaks your heart to have your kids sick, and it makes it so much more difficult when you, the parents, are sick too. So birthday celebrations are being placed on hold and we are just trying to get through this. My doctor told me today that I have earned the stripes. I told him now I just need to get the jacket to have them placed on. So I had better get off. There are little ones (three of them ;) to go and care for.

Under Construction

Forgive the oddness of everything, this blog is currently under construction. Adding a new little one requires some changes around here, especially for the blog. So bear with us!

It's Party Time!!!

I love birthdays. I am a firm believer in the birthday month idea, although Mike has weaned me down to about a week. Cute Collin is turning two next week, so the presents and fun has already started. This kid can literally drive me nuts and make me want to smother him with love all at once (typical two year old, right?) On Wednesday Mike called me at work and told me a cute and funny story. He woke up at 8 am and did not hear Collin. So at 8:30 he went in, and Collin was sitting in his bed, looking at his books. He looks up at Mike and says "oh, hi." I mean seriously, how cute is that?

He loves our new house, and is always asking to go home when we are out. He adores his family, and is learning all of their names. He already learned three new names this week, and he is always asking to go and visit Grandma, Grandpa, Meggie (which includes Perrie) Heather, Cody, Tatum, Abby, Kat, Mimi, Gracie, and the dogs. he just learned Cody, Abby, and Courtney this week. I have been working on him with Jim, Jason, Deanna now, and we will move on from there.  We are doing a Curious George party with our families next week. Everyone says that terrible twos are terrible but I think the 15-22 month period was hard because of Collin not being able to communicate like he can now. Anyways, I am off to explore cupcake recipes. I am thinking key lime cupcakes and some peanut butter chocolate cupcakes too. I am working on the two year post for Collin and the four month old update on Jacob. These little guys are just growing way too fast for my liking!

Me

Who am I? I am Emily. I hail from a couple states, growing up mostly in West-by-gosh-Virginia and moving to Utah my senior year of high school. I miss West Virginia's beauty and the falls/springs (truly all the seasons!) I have been married for a little over 6 years. I have four amazing children, Lilly (who is our first angel living a sweet 5 weeks) Ryker, our heart hero/angel, who lived 7 weeks after passing away from Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome, Collin, our adoption miracle, and Jacob, our miracle baby who overcame Hydrops and a small heart defect that was repaired at 6 days of age.

I love my family, although I can be the moody emotional one in both sides (something I am constantly asking forgiveness for.) I wear my heart and feelings on my sleeves (note the plural) and can be one of the most sarcastic people you know. I sometimes say stupid, stupid things (I seem to always manage to get my wide foot stuck in my mouth) but I care so much for those around me. I work with new moms and babies, something I love, and I love being with my dear friends and family (although it makes me sad when I do not get to see them or be with them. :(  ) I am loud, I love to laugh, love good food or anything dairy/carb related, hate to exercise (hate, hate, hate it!!!) But I need to as I just had a baby 3-4 months ago and well, yikes!!!

I love to craft and although I should sell my things on Etsy, I would much rather give it away as that is who I am, a giver. I have a hard time with others being selfish, as though I may have my moments, that happens to be a strength of mine of being unselfish. I love my best friend more than words could express and it makes me cry to ever think about living without him, and I would love to travel. I wish I lived near the beach (darn you Utah!!!) and try to persuade my said husband in taking me to a coast of some sort so that I can enjoy the beach. I love parties (and am thrilled to be in a house large enough to have people over finally) and will someday return to school to finish, but that dream will come true once my sweet babes are in school as they are little for a short while.

So there you have it, moody, crafty, loving, unselfish, giving beachy, loves food, hate exercising, love the kids/husband, misses the East coast, and enjoys being surrounded by family and friends (especially the besties, sisters, and angel mommas!!!)

I'm Back.....

I know, I know. My heart has not been in blogging. I have been talking to a friend lately, and she expressed how this blog was very much like your favorite dramatic TV show, comparable to ER or something. And there was so much drama and so much sitting on the edge of your seat and wondering what would happen (with Jacob) but than there was this awesome series finale of good news and it was over. Jacob was here, he was healthy, he came home *smile and sigh.* The End. I lost time to blog, and truly I did not want to blog because I felt like whatever I would spew out from here would be insignificant after such a tremendous significant life-changing experience.

But than today, after chewing on this, I realized some thing. How many people get to raise or have so many miracles in their lives? And what I have here on earth are two freaking miracles for two very different reasons. And life still has it's ups and downs, and that is something to blog about, right???

So I start again. I will start the new chapter in my life and blogging, of being the mom of four amazing babes and two special little guys that although sometimes have me pulling hair at times, I could not imagine being anything else but their mom. So here's a few pictures to start this new chapter of my life and blogging with. I will sign off but I will post soon, as I have much to share and catch up on!

 We lost this camera a year ago but found it right before moving. Collin had gotten himself into sour cream. If I only knew this was a mere glimpse into the craziness of this little boy!!! 

 Jake's Three month pic. He has grown so much since than. Still has his curly goldilocks.

 My boys. (Ignore the mess, we were moving. But really even if we were not, 

there would probably still be a mess :)

 Collin is going to be two in a few weeks. I cannot believe how fast he has grown.

Tata for now, I will be back soon!!!

Jacob's Baby Blessing

I am a lame blogger. I should be sorry I suppose, but really, with two boys that have been fighting colds and well everything with the holidays, I was just busy. I think if I had to write a caption for all of these pictures, it would be "the album of funny faces." This obviously was Jacob's baby blessing. It was a wonderful day. With Lilly and Ryker, they were blessed in the hospital, so it is a tremendous blessing to be able to bless them surrounded by friends and family. He slept right through it. This was right before a growth spurt and so he was even more quiet and peaceful than usual. This was a day for happy tears. I know Lilly and Ryker were near and watch over them family and keep us safe. I love my children and am so grateful to be their mom.

I have a few posts in the works, and I will do my best to publish them in a timely manner, but we are moving the nest two weeks and so I am busy cleaning and packing. We will have a lot more space, a big fenced in yard, and just space to enjoy our family. So once things get settled, I promise to be a better blogger!!!