Life-SAVER????

Today was kind of a breakthrough day....for a couple of reasons. When Nathan saw Matthew enjoying some mini M&M's he started hysterically begging for the same candy. Of course I gave him one, since all Nathan ever does with new foods that he's curious about is carry them around for a while. No need to worry that he's allergic to milk....he won't eat it anyway! Wrong....he quickly ate it, much to my surprise! That is such a big deal in our house!! And he loved it! And of course he wanted more! Well, the last thing I wanted was a life-threatening allergic reaction on my hands, so I tried to find something in the pantry to distract him that he could safely have. Ahhhh...Lifesavers! He loves to hold those because they look like wheels. The most he's ever done before is lick them a time or two. So he was immediatly placated with a "wheel candy." Again, much to my surprise, he ate that too!! And of course he wanted more! So I gave him another one, and went about my business.

It was music to my ears when I heard all three kids running around the living room, playing and laughing together.....until that turned into quite a different sound from Nathan. He came running over to the room I was in making this horrible gagging sound. I immediately figured out what had happened, and tried not to panic. Fortunately, I could tell that he was able to breathe, but still turned him over and tried to beat the offending Lifesaver out of him. It didn't go easily, but ended up going down the pipe after about 10 seconds. Nathan immediately says, "There....that's better." All I could do was lock him in a tight hug and relish the feel of him breathing easily. Life-SAVERS??? The name seems a bit ironic to me.....

What do you get.....

What do you get when you cross the following:

The Couch...

The Vacuum...

And a silly boy named Matthew?

The answer is:

Is that the saddest picture or what? He honestly looks like he can't quite figure out what happened....or why his mouth feels so funny! Breaks my heart.....sigh. That's what we get when we have a little guy who watches his older siblings play and rough house with Daddy....and thinks he can keep right up! He went tumbling right off the couch, and tried to make out with the vacuum handle. Fortunately, it looked a lot better the next day! : )

Our world turned upside down...in a good way!

And this little guy is the one responsible! Nathan, our little acrobat, has thrown us for a loop since his very difficult birth. He's just always marched to his own beat, followed the path less traveled....you get the idea. Long story short, we're still trying to learn every day how to make life a little easier for him, while still teaching him that certain things aren't negotiable. To add to the chaos of life, Nathan started preschool today, and will be going two mornings a week. We're hoping that the introduction to structure and routine (by people other than Mom and Dad) will be beneficial to him in preparing him for school.

His teachers said he did very well today...Mom had a harder time. I'm not sure I'm ready to share him with the world, though I know it is the best thing for him. I spend moments of every day wishing he was past these difficult stages, but more moments in a panic over how quickly he's grown up. We'll see how he does in the coming week...it will be a good thing....I think.

Favorite Photos

I realize that I'm terrible about updating this blog. As I've been creating a new blog post for my vinyl blog every day this month, I've been inspired to be better at updating on the family. I decided to post some of my favorite pics over the coming weeks....enjoy!

This was way back when Matthew only had a couple cute little teeth on the bottom....when we first realized what a mischevious little bug we had on our hands. Always into something....and I mean ALWAYS!

A time to reflect....

This is a wonderful time of year for reflections. A time to reflect on the birth of our Savior, a time to reflect on the ways we want to improve our lives over the next year. More than ever this year, it's been a time to reflect on the arrival of our sweet little boy....exactly three years ago. Witnessing the arrival of a good friend's baby early in December, and welcoming a new neice just a few days ago has brought it all back even more. How is it possible that our little guy is three already? This miracle baby we waited over five years for...

Nathan has become such a sweet, funny, sensitive, joyful boy. We have learned so much from him, and love him more with every passing day. I sure wish he would stop growing up so fast, but I'm so excited to see who he becomes in the coming years. We love you so much Nathan....happy 3rd birthday!

In case anyone is wondering....no, Nathan still has not had any birthday cake at age 3. I couldn't even entice him with the cool cupcakes with cars on the top! Of course he wanted the cars....just not the cake.

This sweet boy opened his first gift....a toy helicoptor from big sister Emma, and was content. He was all set! It took a bit of work to get through the rest of the gifts. Note to self...next year, only one gift? : )

Matthew and Emma were more than happy to help him with the present-opening task. I think I am more excited about this gift than Nathan is. I actually found a little boy potty with WHEELS!! Is that perfect for Nathan or what? Now we just have to convince him to USE it rather than DRIVE it.

Now THIS he can drive. I think he will have so much fun with his very own car to drive. Again, demonstrating his sweet nature....he immediately wanted to have a seat for Emma or Matthew in here. Love this boy!

Beautiful Girl

Now that I have finally finished Matthew's birthday post (almost 4 months too late!), I can move on to our first beautiful baby....who is definitely NOT a baby anymore! Our sweet Emma is eight years old today, and we're left wondering where the time has gone, and willing it to slow down just a bit! I can't believe we've had Emma for eight years already, and yet, could never imagine how we lived without her! She is the most sensitive, compassionate, thoughtful, intelligent little girl, and we simply couldn't ask for anything more in a daughter.

In lieu of a party with friends this year, Daddy and I took her out for dinner and a movie...just the three of us (thank you Nana!). We had a wonderful time tonight, and could even (barely) remember what it was like to just have our sweet Emma for those five years before any siblings came along. We love you so much, Emma. Just do us a favor, and stop growing up so fast!

15 months and 20 days ago today....

I know, I know....I'm a little tardy finishing that last post. Sorry!! Maybe it's silly to finish it now, but it's a story that deserves telling...even if I'm the only one who will read it! : )

Where did I leave off...oh, right....I went to bed knowing that I would see Mom the next day (June 5th) and have some time with her before the baby came. By 11:30pm, I knew it just wasn't going to happen that way. Even though I was 2 and a half weeks before my due date, I told Darrin I needed to go to the hospital. We called Trev and Missi, and Trev came over to be at the house with Nathan and Emma who were sound asleep....oblivious to the fact that by the time they woke up in the morning, they would have a baby brother!

We got to the hospital around midnight, and I was SHOCKED to learn that I was already 5 cm! We got settled in, and I called Mom to let her know that the baby was coming, and she was going to miss it by just a few hours.....I couldn't believe it. So close! Right when we got there, I asked the nurse to do the preliminary bloodwork which would give us a platelet count. With Emma I was unable to have an epidural due to low platelets. With Nathan, I chose not to have one, though my platelets were just above the cut-off point. (Still kicking myself for THAT one!) Even though Matthew's labor so far had been great, Nathan's delivery was still too fresh in my mind, and I wanted to experience an epidural. When the nurse came back in with the numbers, I literally held my breath. My platelets were at 104.....anything above 100 and you can have an epidural. The relief I feld is positively impossible to describe. I felt like at that moment, I could finally relax, and celebrate the fact that we were welcoming another baby!

Epidural in by 2am....Darrin and Katie asleep by 2:05am. : ) I tried to get some rest, but couldn't help watching that monitor...seeing those mountainous contractions....knowing that I was getting closer to seeing my baby with each one. BUT I COULDN'T FEEL A THING!!! It was positively amazing! By 6am, it was show time. Darrin and Katie stumbled awake, and the nurse told me to go ahead and push.....WAIT.....DON'T PUSH! He's right there! You're kidding me...right? There is NO way it can be this easy! I didn't even push one time, and then we had to just sit there and wait for 10 minutes until the doctor got there. Okay, NOW it's show time. One contraction....two pushes....and we have a perfect, beautiful little boy with tons of platinum blond hair! I was able to feel so much emotion, and enjoy that moment so fully because the entire experience had been so incredible. Our beautiful boy then:

And our beautiful boy on his first birthday (which is when I SHOULD have finished this post!):

Matthew has brought so much joy and laughter to our home....we love you so much!
(And he's so darn cute, that it just isn't right!)