What We've Been Up To...

We have finally started enjoying this holiday season...its definitely been a different one, it just seems like Christmas snuck up on us all of the sudden. We are enjoying spending time with family and friends and can't wait for Christmas to be here. Over the past month that has kind of been a blur, Gage turned 4 months old (he's now almost 5). I just wanted to write some things down so I will remember. Like I have said before, he is the best baby. He is so happy and will smile at anyone who will look his way. He is rolling like crazy and is even getting a little sturdy at sitting up. We started him on rice cereal, and of course he loves it! He is such an eater! At his 4 month appt, he was 16lbs 2oz and 26 in. He also just got his first tooth, and we have discovered that he doesn't do so well with the teeth thing:) (It's the loudest we have ever heard him cry!) He loves to play with toys now, and EVERYTHING goes in his mouth! We sure love him and are so happy he is part of our family.

Also, a quick update on Ella. I want to thank so many of you for your thoughts and prayers. She is doing really well, and we know our prayers were heard and answered. She has finally adjusted to the medication she is on now (we have our spunky little Ella back:), but fortunately, and unfortunately we will be switching her to something different after Christmas. The good news is, no more weekly blood tests (every time we go to the doctors, she starts crying saying "mommy, I'm all better, I'm all better!", it breaks my heart), but the bad news is it will take a little while for her to get used to this new one. Its just sort of like a guessing game with these seizure medications, some work for some, and others make the kids totally loopy. You just have to keep trying and figure out which works best for your child. Some of the side effects can be pretty scary, so of course I worry about that, but I know she is in good hands with her doctors. We went to Primary's a couple days ago for an appointment, and I just get so emotional every time we go there. Most of the kids there are so sick, it makes me feel guilty for ever thinking what we have is hard. I know those kids are such amazing little spirits though, its humbling to be in that hospital. Anyway, we are so blessed...Ella is doing great, and as the doctor told me, "don't you dare treat her like a sick child, she is not sick!" That was good for me to hear.

This is what happens every time I try and take a picture of her. She will say "sminle mommy!", but won't ever look at me.

Another attempt...

And yet another...

This is hilarious...I think he'll be bigger than her before we know it! He's so cute though, he looks so uncomfortable, but just looks up at her and smiles! I love the little bond they have.

THANKFUL

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I decided to write about how thankful I am for all of my blessings in my life right now. I will warn you this might get a little sappy, but after the experience we went trough last week, I feel like writing it all down is a good outlet for me at expressing what I am feeling right now.

It all started on Thanksgiving morning when I was giving Ella a bath. I noticed out of the corner of my eye that out of the blue she fell back and hit her head on the tub. I ran to pick her up, and noticed she was convulsing. I screamed like I never have before, and Matt came running and I called 911. Like out of a movie, I was crying and screaming to the lady on 911 that my child wasn't breathing and "where the hell is the ambulance!", while Matt was trying to get Ella to respond to something. The ambulance arrived and put her on the stretcher to take her to the hospital. They were thinking that she might have had a seizure, but weren't sure. I rode in the ambulance with her to the hospital, all the while hearing the response team in the back yelling, "stay with me Ella, honey stay with me." I was numb, and honestly thought my child was dying. We got to the hospital and they determined that she had had a seizure, and that it was probably because she had the flu and a fever. Well, about an hour after we got there, she had another one. I was on the phone with my mom in the hall, when I saw everybody running back into her room - I ran in and saw Matt crying like I have never seen. Fortunately, she got through it pretty quick, but determined that they needed to get some serious tests done and we would probably need to go down to Primary Children's to have them done. In the blur that was becoming of this day, we drove by ambulance to Primary's and waited in the ER to see their doctor. For some reason they were really busy that night, and we waited in the room for over an hour before the doctor came. She was finally awake and seemed to be doing really well. I was finally starting to calm down, when all of a sudden she started to have another seizure on the exam table. I completly lost it and ran out of the room screaming for the doctor to come in. Again, this one was very brief, but obviously something was going on with her, and they admitted us up to the Neurological Unit. We stayed there for a little over 24 hours, while they did every test, needle prick, poking and proding imaginable to my little girl.

Here is where I start with my thankful feelings (I promise there really are some). I am so thankful to this hospital for taking such good care of my baby, when I felt like I was totally drowning because I thought I was losing her. I am so thankful for my husband and that he worthily holds the priesthood so he could give our daughter a special blessing when she needed it most. I am so thankful for our amazing families for dropping everything and coming to be by our sides in our darkest moments. I am so thankful for my dad who also honors his priesthood, who gave me the most beautiful blessing I have heard, and to hear from his mouth that, "Melissa, I do know for certain that she will be alright." I am so thankful for the spirit. I am so thankful for my wonderful husband who literally picked me off of the hospital floor and held me when I didn't think I could handle any more. I know for certain that this experince has brought us closer together and has made me appreciate him more than I ever thought I could. I am so grateful to my Heavenly Father for blessing my little girl to be a fighter. She went through more torture than I could imagine, and is now doing a lot better. I know our prayers were heard and I know she will get through this.

She is now on medication for her seizures, and probably will be for quite a while. The medicine makes her really tired and ornery, so she is not quite herself right now. But all the doctors keep telling me that this is completly normal, and she should be back to herself within a week or two. As fresh as this still is in our life, I want to be able to remember how strongly I have felt the spirit and our Heavenly Father's love these past few days than I have ever felt in my life. I know how blessed I am and I know that the most important thing in this life is family.

Family Pictures

We got our family pictures done about a month ago by my super talented cousin (I hope you don't mind that I stole these from your blog, Mary!) Just thought I'd post a few, you can check out more of her awesome work here.

(mom, go to her website, click on middle picture, then clients, and type "ella" to see the rest.)

Happy Birthday Ella Bella!

Ella turned 2 last week, so we had a little family party for her. She loved it and kept saying 'Happy Birthday to you" all day long! I've said this before, but kids make holidays and birthdays so much more fun! She loved all her presents, and balloons in particular. Notice she is holding her balloons in EVERY picture. I don't think she let go of them the whole night...strange child:) I can't believe my baby girl is already 2....well, actully I can, especially when she gets in her tantrum moods. Then I can TOTALLY believe she is 2!

The purse cakes...a big one for everyone and a small one just for her. (No, I did not make them..I wish:)

She got one of those potty babies....they're kind of weird, but she loves it, plus it makes her want to go potty!!

And just for fun, a picture of a yummy sleeping baby! My favorite:)

Good News!

Great news everyone, Ella grew hair overnight.....it's a miracle.

Lucky Me

Luckily, I have been getting double doses of the toddler tantrums from this one here, to help me take my mind off of the post below:)

Hmmmmm......

I received this email a couple days ago about this guy who wrote an article about his feelings on Obama.
Heaven help us...that's all I have to say!

"Today on my way to lunch I passed a homeless guy with a sign that read 'Vote Obama, I need the money.' I laughed. Once in the restaurant my server had on an 'Obama 08' button , again I laughed--just imagine the coincidence. When the bill came I decided not to tip the server and explained to him that I was exploring the Obama redistribution of wealth concept. He stood there in disbelief while I told him that I was going to redistribute his tip to someone who I deemed more in need--the homeless guy outside. The server angrily stormed from my sight. I went outside, gave the homeless guy $10 and told him to thank the server inside as I decided he could use the money more. The homeless guy was grateful. At the end of my rather unscientific redistribution experiment I realized the homeless guy was grateful for the money he did not earn, but the waiter was pretty angry that I gave away the money he did earn even though the actual recipient needed the money more. I guess redistribution of wealth is an easier thing to swallow in concept than in practical application."