Xander's First "Solid" Foods!

Normally babies don't start rice cereals until they are 4 months. But Xander's doctor told us to try it this week (he turns 3 months) to see if it helps his reflux. So last night we did! We mixed some whole grain rice cereal with a little breast-milk and let him try it.

Gabriella wanted to try it too, of course, so we let her. She wasn't a big fan of it!

It was so cute! I'm pretty sure that he liked helping me with the spoon more than actually eating, but he'll get the hang of it!

I love the advances in technology! It is so nice that we can take videos and pictures of milestones like this and be able to share it with our family! 

Vineyard School Carnival & Weekend Fun with Cousins

Friday night was the annual Vineyard Christian School Carnival. This year it was so much fun because Gabriella actually understood playing the games, not that she was necessarily good at them, but she understood them.

Frisbee Toss

So excited with Daddy!

Gabriella in the bouncy castle. She LOVED it and kept asking to go in it!

Showing her prizes she bought from the store with her "funny money"

Xander with Gramma at the carnival

Saturday we headed over to my mom's house for the day to spend time with my cousin Jessica and her hubby and their three kiddos. It was relatively nice outside so we all went out to play! 

Gabriella riding the scooter in her awesome pink helmet!

Me and my little man!

The picture of Gramma that Jonathan drew. Gabriella added a beard and James gave her a shark fin neck.

Gabriella trying to play ball with a bat for the first time. 

Time to wind down with stories read by Uncle Brad

Silly girl with Big Grampa!

After dinner the kids all decorated cupcakes for dessert.

Gabriella eating hers

Ariella with hers

James just licked all the frosting off his...

Grampa ace & Uncle Lowell with their birthday cake!

Sunday morning we were over to play again. We started the morning watching "Phonics Farm"

Fun jumping on the bed!

Playing some pogs (oh yeah, we still have ours!)

Ariella and I dying our hair. 

This was her first time ever coloring hair and I let her do mine!

Letting the color set in

All done! I just did a streak of colors and Ariella did her bangs. Amelia (my cousin)'s words were, "You two are crazy! Why would anyone want to do that to their hair?!"

It was a super fun and relaxing weekend! I love my family and spending time with them!!

Xander Breathing

Here is a video of Xander breathing last night (for those of you who don't follow my Facebook page).
The rasping is him with croup and the wheezing sounds are his normal sounds from tracheomalacia.
This is his second night with croup and these sounds were better enough for me to feel comfortable keeping him at home and not going back to the hospital. Be warned, it is very sad to watch.

It is so hard for me to watch him struggling to breathe constantly. He is getting better with the tracheomalacia but he still makes awful sounds when he is eating, sleeping or lying down. We also have to be careful not to let him get too excited because the harder he breathes the worse it is. 

These last few months have been a trail for sure, full of ups and downs, scares and moments of peace. 

Xander turns 12 weeks today and we are so thankful for his little life! We believe strongly that he has a MEGA destiny and we are looking forward to the glory of God being revealed even more in his life!

Doctor Visit Fun (not!)

Poor little Xander has been so sick lately. He caught Influenza A and then a cold. But for how sick he has been he has been so happy and smiley!

Chillin at the doctor's office. 

Last Tuesday we had a chest X-ray done to rule out pneumonia. It came back negative so we were very relieved!

Gabriella likes to color. She did not color this picture, she was scribbling over it!

On the way home after a trip back to the doctor on Friday to get rechecked. 

Poor sleepy guy!

Gabriella held Xander's hand the whole way home and was singing songs to him so that he would feel better. 

Moments like these are so precious to me. I love that my kids are already best of buds!

We woke up at 3:30 this morning to him making horrible noises when he was breathing. He was making a barky/seal sound when he was exhaling. It was so scary! I loaded him in the car and we went straight to the emergency room! The doctor there watched him for awhile and then sent us to his pediatrician's office as soon as they opened.  After another hour at his doctor's office we found out that he has croup but it is complicated with his tracheomalacia. So they aren't sure how much is croup and how much is from his normal breathing problems. We are on "baby watch" and keeping a close eye and ear on him for the next couple days. Normal croup with wheezing gets treated with steroids or antibiotics, but since Xander is so young still we are trying to hold off on the medication since the risks are pretty high. Thank you all for your prayers. Please continue to pray that his croup would be gone quickly, that he would get better without needing medication, and for peace for us (especially me). It is absolutely terrifying to hear your little one gasping and wheezing and be able to do nothing to help them. Last night/this morning was the worst he's ever been!

St. Patrick's Day and Felicity's 1st Birthday

We've had a busy weekend! On Saint Patrick's Day we had both of Matt's sisters and their kiddos over for dinner and to hang out. The kids had fun using all my giant stuffed animals to make a tower/blockade in the hallway. Here is an awesome video of Gabriella and Brannon trying to jump over it.

Joshua was all tuckered out after the battle

Sunday was Felicity's first birthday. This is Gabriella wearing her masquerade mask she got in her goodie bag. 

Matt wearing Gabriella's mask. She kept calling him "Pider Man" (Spider Man)

Trying to open the pinata by pulling on the ribbons

Hunter trying to find the right ribbon. 

It was so much fun celebrating and spending some quality time with Matt's family! 

Here's my little man on his first St. Patrick's Day. 

Such a sweet little leprechaun!!  

Family Photo Shoot

This weekend we went to Lithia Park in Ashland with April (my soon to be sister in law) and did some family photos. 

Here are some of our favorites!

Helping Xander with His Binkie

Gabriella loves to "help" Xander with things. This is a video of her helping him hold his binkie. 

He tolerates her "helpfulness" quite well!

We played outside for a little while today since the weather was unseasonably warm and sunny (it was snowing and hailing three days ago). Gabriella had fun running back and forth between inside and outside yelling and laughing. 

She came in at one point and yelled, "I! Love! You!" She is trying to learn how to sign "I love you" with her hand. So cute!

Whats not to love about this picture and little man???

Lemon Juice

We try to let our kids make choices in things, especially things that aren't super important (like what clothes to wear, what color of juice they want, how many pony tails in Gabriella's hair, etc) as outlined in Danny Silk's series "Loving Your Kids on Purpose" (check it out at http://www.ibethel.org)

Basically it allows your children to learn responsibility and accountability at a very young age, so that as they grow they understand consequences and results from their choices and actions.

At my mom's house Sunday, Gabriella got into the fridge and wanted to try some lemon juice that she pulled out of the door. So, we let her try it.

Face Time with Grampa Ace

Both our kids have absolutely adored my grampa, Grampa Ace. When Gabriella was colicky and would scream constantly, she would always stop when Grampa Ace talked to her. Now she calls him "Big Boppa" and loves to go visit him and play with him.

A couple nights ago we were over visiting and Grampa crawled down on the floor to talk to Xander.

Xander immediately got a HUGE smile on his face and laid there kicking his feet and "talking" back to Grampa for at least 10 minutes without looking away from him. It was so precious!