Ok.. so I never got around to posting after my last one so I will give an update on Daniel now. We got his casts off on Wednesday September 24 and he was one happy camper! Just look at these cute photos of him smiling and kicking his free legs...





His legs were very sensitive to touch after the casts came off, but on Thursday he was obviously fine and he was kicking and kicking all day long - it was so much fun to watch, and sad at the same time because he hasn't been able to do that and won't again for a while. I sure enjoyed giving him a real bath that night, I've been giving him sponge baths since he was born which is harder and not as much fun. He also had his two month check up that day - he was 15 lbs. 8 oz. (off the chart, meaning over 100 percentile if that is possible) and 24" tall (90th percentile). I did not have him vaccinated due to the fact he was going in for surgery the next day. He is a healthy and happy big boy.

Friday September 26th we went in for his surgery. He did SO well! Thank you to everybody that was praying for him because I'm sure that is what helped. Despite the fact that hadn't nursed since 4 am (his surgery was at 8:30 am) he was so calm! He was either sleeping or just chillin' out all mellow and cool. I expected a hungry baby in a new (and smelly) place to freak out, but thankfully he didn't. The surgery went well and was done quickly. He had a hard time coming out of anesthesia so they brought me in to him to see if he would nurse and calm down, he didn't so they gave him more fentanol (the painkiller he was on) and he conked out. He was so doped up he wouldn't wake up to nurse and we weren't able to leave until he had, we finally got released and left the hospital around noon. After the surgery and for the remainder of the day when he was awake he would scream and cry, but thanks to the drugs he was on he slept almost the entire day and most of the night also. I expected Saturday to be a hard day and it wasn't, again he was so mellow and more even tempered than usual. I am just so thankful and thrilled that he did so well and that this part of his treatment is over.

He is in his last set of casts right now and will get them off on October 22nd (I'm so excited). He has been fitted for the special shoes/braces he will wear for the next year or so and will start wearing them for 18-20 hours a day from the time his casts come off. So even though his feet will be fixed and unmovable at least he will be able to bend his knees. He won't be able to kick his legs separately, but I've heard that they are quick to learn how to kick both legs together at the same time.

He is 10 weeks old now and doing great, he is sleeping almost through the night for about 6 hours straight. But he only wakes up once or twice to nurse. That is a HUGE improvement over how Jacob was. He is a joy and a blessing to me and I am so very happy to have him as my son. He is getting blessed this Sunday and I am really looking forward to that. We will have Brent's parents here and my brother John and his family. I will be sure to posts some pictures.

2 month old

My little man is 2 months old now and doing well. He has his 2 month check up on Thursday and I will post his stats then. I am really excited for him to get his casts off on Wednesday, I will get 2 whole days of him without casts. Friday is his surgery and that stresses me. Then he will be in his last set of casts and will get them off on Oct. 22nd - I can't wait! For those who didn't get an email, we are blessing him on October 12th and you all are welcome to attend.

Here some cute pictures of my little man... (I did give Curious George a bath, doesn't he look better?).






- Too cute not to post.. he looks so old! He's only 8 weeks!!

Last night my grandpa passed away. So I scrambled to get a flight to Utah and ($450 bucks later) got one. At that price we couldn't afford to have Brent go, so from Sat until Mon I will be over there, just me and Daniel. I am bitter-sweet about it - sad that my grandpa is gone yet happy he has gone. I am very excited to see my family get together, I haven't seen many of them in 13 years or more. My dad's family is so enormous that only an event like this can bring them all together. I am so blessed to be able to go.. and blessed we have savings enough to cover it. Just when I think life has gotten crazy enough it keeps getting crazier.

half way done

We just got Daniel's fourth casts put on. He has completed 3 of the 6 weeks needed of the serial casting phase and if all goes well he will have his surgery on September 26th. This was a hard one for him and as a result we didn't get much sleep last night. I wish I could take his pain away.. instead I give him Motrin and we hold him and hold him and hold him some more. Brent is my life saver during all of this, I wouldn't be able to manage without him. Thank you sweetheart!

Here are some pictures of how well his feet are doing.




Oh.. a quick note; I took him to the doctor on Tuesday and found out my "little" man is 15 lbs. 5 oz. That means he has gained a pound a week since birth! He

I survived the first month

Daniel is now one month old. That's right, one month has already passed! Unbelievable. On Sunday we took some pictures that I want to post. I take these kinds of pictures every month with the same stuffed animal to show how much they grow in the first year. The Curious George in the picture with Daniel is mine that I got when I was about two years old. Brent passed on his childhood bear to Jacob and we agreed I would do the same for Daniel. I'm going to clean Curious George up so he looks better in the photos next month.

The Oregon Fair

On Saturday we went to state fair. I haven't been to a fair in 10 years and I really really wanted to go. I'm not sure how I convinced Brent to come with me (mister homebody) but he did and so we made a family day of it.

Daniel slept most of the time in the baby bjorn and we had Jacob either in the stroller, walking (with his monkey leash), or on Brent's shoulders. Jacob had a grand time - we took him to the petting zoo, the animal barn and to a kids show called Street Beat where 3 guys used household objects (trash cans, paint buckets etc.) to make drums and then performed. Jacob really enjoyed rockin' out to the beat and Daniel surprisingly slept through it. We also enjoyed cotton candy and a "UFO" which is a cream filled large flat scone (like and elephant ear). Brent sadly never got his "fair corn dog" or a snow cone, so I guess we will just have to go back again next year.

In between all the Jacob stuff we enjoyed looking at art and photography displays and we bought a few items in the merchants building: like the Sham Wow! that everyone seemed to be walking around with. Brent wanted one and the goose chase to find it was worth while since the demonstrator guy was so entertaining. It was 85 degrees and very hot so I made sure to sunscreen myself and the kids and we brought 6 bottles of water to keep ourselves hydrated. We were there for about 4 hours before heading for home. Jacob started falling asleep in the stroller on the long walk back to our car and I was able to put him in his carseat without him waking up and he slept all the way until we got home. For those of you who know Jacob you will understand why that's an oddity worth mentioning, never in his 22 month long life has this happened. We were hot and tired at the end of it all but we had a good day and only Brent was a little pink (due to his dislike of sunscreen and therefor not using it).

Enjoy the show...

As if it couldn't get any worse...

We were on our way to a fun family night. We got some smoothies for dinner (FREE with super sweet coupons) and were going to a water park so Brent and Jacob could cool off (it was 102 today) and all seemed well until...

... we heard some really loud tires screaching and then we totally got rear ended. We were stopped at a light and a lady - on a stupid cell phone - totally rammed us causing us to ram the truck in front of us and we were sandwiched. My smoothie I was holding went all over the place and down my leg and puddled in my sandals. Jacob started screaming and Daniel threw up all down the front of himself and it got between the buckles of his seat. I immediately ran out and got Jacob out of his seat and held him. Brent got out and started talking to a witness, the cops got there in what seamed like a super fast minute. The lady was all apologizing and saying she was lost (as if that is a good excuse), I told her she should have pulled over and figured it out. I started shaking and sat down. Daniel was just staring straight ahead and surprisingly not crying. A firetruck came in a few minutes and they had to physically separate my car from the truck in front, we were totally stuck together, it was crazy. No one was seriously hurt so they eventually stopped traffic in the lane next to us and we all pulled into a nearby parking lot. Good thing my car still ran because the babies were in the car and it was 100 degrees out and we needed the AC to keep them cool. After a long while we were able to go and with Brent already feeling achy we decided to go home and rest and to feed the kids dinner. So much for our super-fun water park adventure.

Now, I have to get my car fixed and the inconvenience of having to replace the boys' carseats and seek medical treatment (Brent and I will need chiropractic care), all of which we will pay for and then have to wait to be reimbursed later. Did I need all this now? I think not. But, I'll try to stay positive; because, if I don't, the evil depression bug will bite me. I'm not getting enough sleep at night to handle all of this well.