I didn't get many pictures of our summer camping trip this year, but managed to snag a few of Jackobi haming it up -- love this little chica and her mile high personality. Her spunk makes life so fun.
wild little camper!!
I didn't get many pictures of our summer camping trip this year, but managed to snag a few of Jackobi haming it up -- love this little chica and her mile high personality. Her spunk makes life so fun.
{eighteen months}
Where does the time go!? I can hardly believe Kashton has already hit the 1 1/2 mark! He is such a fun and ENERGETIC little boy! From the moment he wakes up he hits the ground running and doesn't stop much until bedtime! (some days we don't even get a nap!) He loves to play and "explore" things -- most often things I don't want to be "explored" but that's the beauty of it, right? He adores being outside and I really think would stay out all day long if I'd let him. He loves to play with the lawn mower, race around the trampoline, smack his little ball off his baseball tee and ride Jackobi's pink tricycle. (apparently we need to invest in a boy bike for him!!) Where ever Jackobi goes, Kashton is quick to follow. He loves his big sis and mimics most things she does. (including some pretty darling ballerina moves :)) They play so well together -- my favorite thing is to sit and listen to them giggle uncontrollably together.
The only time we can seem to get Kashton to sit still is to eat or read a book. He loves books -- especially those including animals. He is an animal lover for sure and is quick to make any sound he can associate with a creature. He has quite the little vocabulary and if he's not sure -- will attempt to repeat anything we say. His list of words go on and on -- a few of his favorites are tractor, baseball, bat, cobi (Jackobi), puppy, hi, bye, mommy, no no, bath, juice, milk, side (outside), pease (please) and is getting really good at "sorry" -- which has been added to his vocabulary very quickly as he has learned to hit, pull hair and torment his big sis. They really are darling together, but he's learned how to play "rough" -- that's for sure.
he is such a social little boy and pretty friendly to everyone. He smiles so much and "flirts" a bit with new people. He loves to give high-fives, slide & pops and has learned how to show you his muscles :) He has some of the most darling little facial expressions -- you can usually tell what's on his little mind just by looking at his face. He loves the water and usually insists on being in control of the hose (watch out!) he loves to chase and WILL douse you with the hose. (especially if you scream -- that makes him try even harder :))
Kashton brings us so much joy and LAUGHTER! He is constantly making us smile and lightening the mood. He is definitely my sweet little boy -- I can't wait to see what the future holds for our little man! We love you Kashton!! ♥
the {one} percent ::
I've been working on this post for a little while now and quite honestly it's the post I've been avoiding. They make a social worker come into any of our dr. consults & she tells me that blogging is a good thing - if nothing else to help myself from having to repeat things over and over again. And although I feel like we've gotten pretty good at "numbing" ourselves up when we need to go into details - I think blogging will be a good resource! We are so incredibility grateful for the love and support we've already been shown from so much of our family and so many of our friends. I can honestly say we have been tremendously blessed and can feel your prayers -- so thank you!!
It's taken me a couple weeks to finish it up and I feel like we're in a lot better place than we were 2 months ago when we found out -- so here goes!
When baby #3 decided to join our family it was quite a surprise! The best surprise I think you can get - we're thrilled to be adding a sweet baby girl into the mix this fall. Jackobi is particularly excited to have a baby sister. At our routine ultrasound around 20 weeks the ultrasound showed some inconsistencies with our baby's heart. My dates were off and my due date was pushed back two weeks, so we were hoping a second glimpse of things a bit later would clear up any "fuzzy" spots in our ultrasound. Several weeks later we had ultrasound #2 -- the ultrasound tech I had was so sweet. She was new and although I could tell she was concentrating a bit too much in the baby's heart region, had me leaving my appointment thinking things were a-okay. (in Burley, they send your u/s pictures off to be ready by another dr.) -- less than 2 hours later I got a call from radiology to go back again for an additional ultrasound. Visit #3 I got the courage to ask what was going on - all they could tell me was that 'things just don't look right' and my dr. would be in touch -- [[it was a Friday and nearing 5:00 -- so I had to wait for his phone call Monday! that's just mean!]] We'll skip some details, but a phone call from my dr. led to a referral to a different OBG in Ogden which led to a referral to a cardiologist at Primary Children's in SLC.
Our sweet baby girl has been diagnosed with a Congenital Heart Defect called Tricuspid Atresia. 1 in every 20 babies are born with a CHD, but tricuspid atresia is an uncommon form of congenital heart disease that affects about 5 in every 100,000 live births. So I guess we're really the {less} than one percent. We asked our cardiologist at the last appointment how many babies they see with this a year and she said 2 maybe 3. Considering they are the "go to" place for Idaho, Nevada, Wyoming, Montana, and Utah - that's not very many.
So here's the basics - normally, blood flows from the body into the right atrium, then through the tricuspid valve to the right ventricle and on to the lungs. If the tricuspid valve does not open (which is the case with baby girl) the blood cannot flow from the right atrium to the right ventricle. Blood ultimately cannot enter the lungs, where it must go to pick up oxygen (become oxygenated).
Not the news you ever, ever want to hear. But our Dr.'s are so wonderful - they are kind and more than anything HOPEFUL that things will be okay. There's no way to "fix" her heart and make it function like an ordinary heart, but there are ways to repair things to hopefully make it function for her. Many baby's need surgery their first week of life. We are blessed in that they don't think her first surgery will need to be until she's 3-6 months old. For us, the plan right now is for me to deliver the baby at the University of Utah so we're close to Primary Children's. Once she is cleared - bring her home until she needs her first of two open heart surgeries (3-6 months). Her second surgery will be when she's around 3 years old. The tricuspid atresia link above gives details about both the Glenn Shunt (surgery #1) and Fontan Procedure (surgery #2). Probably more than most people want to know, but just in case I haven't lost any of you yet! (it's a lot to wrap your head around!)
So how are we doing? I get this question a lot (or at least my mom does :)) -- we're doing okay. Your mind does go some pretty weird places when you get news like this. But we're doing okay. They tell us the first year will be a really, really tough one - so we're trying to plan and prepare (as much as you can) for the craziness this fall. Jackobi is excited for extended sleepovers at Grandma's house & we'll just say a few prayers for whoever has to get Kashton to sleep with me gone. :) We have an appointment this week in Ogden and hope to solidify a date of when I need to move to Utah before the baby is born. My dr.'s don't want to risk me going into labor here - so 2-4 weeks before my due date I'll be heading down there for the remainder of the pregnancy. Right now, that part makes me nervous. I know children adapt so well and mine will be in fabulous hands -- but the idea of having to leave them absolutely breaks my heart. I'll miss pre-school pick-up, dance days and midnight snuggles. Hopefully I'll only have to go 2 weeks before I'm due and can schedule some long weekend visits from my two babes. They just can't "move" with me in case I go into labor. So we're a bit in limbo right now -- trying to figure out exactly what needs to happen before our sweet girl makes her grand entrance (and it will be grand :)) -- until then we'll just keep praying. Jackobi's prayers are the sweetest. She's learned to include her new baby sister in them; my heart swells each time she says them. We are blessed --
It's taken me a couple weeks to finish it up and I feel like we're in a lot better place than we were 2 months ago when we found out -- so here goes!
When baby #3 decided to join our family it was quite a surprise! The best surprise I think you can get - we're thrilled to be adding a sweet baby girl into the mix this fall. Jackobi is particularly excited to have a baby sister. At our routine ultrasound around 20 weeks the ultrasound showed some inconsistencies with our baby's heart. My dates were off and my due date was pushed back two weeks, so we were hoping a second glimpse of things a bit later would clear up any "fuzzy" spots in our ultrasound. Several weeks later we had ultrasound #2 -- the ultrasound tech I had was so sweet. She was new and although I could tell she was concentrating a bit too much in the baby's heart region, had me leaving my appointment thinking things were a-okay. (in Burley, they send your u/s pictures off to be ready by another dr.) -- less than 2 hours later I got a call from radiology to go back again for an additional ultrasound. Visit #3 I got the courage to ask what was going on - all they could tell me was that 'things just don't look right' and my dr. would be in touch -- [[it was a Friday and nearing 5:00 -- so I had to wait for his phone call Monday! that's just mean!]] We'll skip some details, but a phone call from my dr. led to a referral to a different OBG in Ogden which led to a referral to a cardiologist at Primary Children's in SLC.
Our sweet baby girl has been diagnosed with a Congenital Heart Defect called Tricuspid Atresia. 1 in every 20 babies are born with a CHD, but tricuspid atresia is an uncommon form of congenital heart disease that affects about 5 in every 100,000 live births. So I guess we're really the {less} than one percent. We asked our cardiologist at the last appointment how many babies they see with this a year and she said 2 maybe 3. Considering they are the "go to" place for Idaho, Nevada, Wyoming, Montana, and Utah - that's not very many.
So here's the basics - normally, blood flows from the body into the right atrium, then through the tricuspid valve to the right ventricle and on to the lungs. If the tricuspid valve does not open (which is the case with baby girl) the blood cannot flow from the right atrium to the right ventricle. Blood ultimately cannot enter the lungs, where it must go to pick up oxygen (become oxygenated).
Not the news you ever, ever want to hear. But our Dr.'s are so wonderful - they are kind and more than anything HOPEFUL that things will be okay. There's no way to "fix" her heart and make it function like an ordinary heart, but there are ways to repair things to hopefully make it function for her. Many baby's need surgery their first week of life. We are blessed in that they don't think her first surgery will need to be until she's 3-6 months old. For us, the plan right now is for me to deliver the baby at the University of Utah so we're close to Primary Children's. Once she is cleared - bring her home until she needs her first of two open heart surgeries (3-6 months). Her second surgery will be when she's around 3 years old. The tricuspid atresia link above gives details about both the Glenn Shunt (surgery #1) and Fontan Procedure (surgery #2). Probably more than most people want to know, but just in case I haven't lost any of you yet! (it's a lot to wrap your head around!)
So how are we doing? I get this question a lot (or at least my mom does :)) -- we're doing okay. Your mind does go some pretty weird places when you get news like this. But we're doing okay. They tell us the first year will be a really, really tough one - so we're trying to plan and prepare (as much as you can) for the craziness this fall. Jackobi is excited for extended sleepovers at Grandma's house & we'll just say a few prayers for whoever has to get Kashton to sleep with me gone. :) We have an appointment this week in Ogden and hope to solidify a date of when I need to move to Utah before the baby is born. My dr.'s don't want to risk me going into labor here - so 2-4 weeks before my due date I'll be heading down there for the remainder of the pregnancy. Right now, that part makes me nervous. I know children adapt so well and mine will be in fabulous hands -- but the idea of having to leave them absolutely breaks my heart. I'll miss pre-school pick-up, dance days and midnight snuggles. Hopefully I'll only have to go 2 weeks before I'm due and can schedule some long weekend visits from my two babes. They just can't "move" with me in case I go into labor. So we're a bit in limbo right now -- trying to figure out exactly what needs to happen before our sweet girl makes her grand entrance (and it will be grand :)) -- until then we'll just keep praying. Jackobi's prayers are the sweetest. She's learned to include her new baby sister in them; my heart swells each time she says them. We are blessed --
:: hogle zoo ::
During one of our trips to SLC we decided to make a fun day out of things and visit the Hogle Zoo -- it was such a fun, but HOT day! I'm pretty sure we went on one of the hottest days this summer -- we were pushing high 90's -- but the kids were troopers and Jackobi is still talking about it! Her favorite animals were the elephants (she loved the baby elephant pictured above) and the giraffes. Kashton liked everything and is a champ at making some pretty comical animal sounds to go along with everything.
Kashton's little cheeks are pretty rosy from the heat, but he was all smiles! I think his favorite animals were the seals. Probably just because they would swim right by the glass so he could get a good look. Jackobi liked them too, but inside the seal exhibit were the big sea lions. I think they were a little too big and too close. They made her pretty nervous.
and just when the heat had gotten to little miss Jackobi ... we rounded the corner to the carousel.
wish come true. and just in time.
Grandpa teaching Jackobi about the finer things in life :: how to keep cool in the "mist fans" :: I'm pretty sure we all visited them a time or two before the day was over.
we ended things off with a ride on the train. it was such a fun day at the zoo. Jackobi and Kashton are both at such fun, inquisitive ages. They're always up for a little adventure - I need to remember to be more like them and savor the little "adventures" in life.
weekend in Olympia
My cousin Cody married his sweetheart Tiffany in June and on a last minute whim -- we decided to take a quick road trip with my mom to attend. (nothing about a 14+ hour drive is "quick" by all means ... but it was a quick weekend trip :)) It was a great weekend away!
while we were there, we visited the Port of Olympia -- Jackobi picked out her boat :) we had fun walking around and finding sea shells.
Although I didn't get many pictures -- the wedding was beautiful. Cody & Tiffany seem so happy together. I can't wait to see what the years have to come for their little family!
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| Mom, Grandma, JoAnn & Lisa @ the reception :: |
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| me & my exhausted kiddos -- they were SO GOOD!! |
loved our little weekend getaway!
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