Summer to Fall

This is a picture of Gus the sickly.a

I'm obviously not blogging much. Here's a small view of a few things that happened in our family.

Gus had some choking problems that began at about two weeks old. We had to watch him continually. We always had him propped up on his back and in the same room with us. He could eat properly but would have choking spells at random times throughout the day. He choked on his saliva. 

Thus began the tests. 

This little test was to check his swallowing. The nurse called it a "baby rotisserie" which couldn't have been more true. The room was warm and he was strapped in and then they cranked a handle to twist him around  into different positions as he drank a bottle. 

Test results. A big nothing.

Blood draw which only revealed nothing of what we were looking for and more of other issues we didn't want to know about.

A little VCUG. To check out his big kidney issue.

On one of my many Dr. appointments Gus helped me out by having a little choking episode in front of my Dr.
I was glad that someone else could see what I was seeing. The bad part was that my Dr started asking me a lot of questions that I didn't want to hear. Essentially he thought it looked an awful  lot like an infant seizure. 

So here's the brain scan which came out clear. 

I have hundreds of these on my phone. 

Jeremy and Shauni came to visit and attend the BYU / Virginia game

BYU vs. Virginia
A giant storm rolled in and rained us out. It was pouring.

Megan, Andy, Matty, Grandpa, Helene, Mike
We always love it when family comes to visit.

Maggie liked to play with Grandpa's oxygen when he left the house.

Maggie and Jane
First Day of School

Drew, Peyton, Charlie, Patrick & Cooper
School fun run to raise money for new playground equipment. The man in the red head is our friend Mr. Bill. He is  a secret service agent for Biden. Imagine him in a suit with a thingy in his ear. Doesn't he look the part?

Jane.
The whole school participated. 

Charlie advancing to a wolf.

Charlie was the only 3rd grade boy in his school to qualify for a countywide 
school run for  3rd, 4th & 5th grade qualifiers. 

And his sweet Mom forgot his water. 

A couple of weeks later he thought it would be funny to faint in class. Turns out he's fine.

His friends B-day party was at a Nationals Game. 
They got VIP tickets and Mike got to sneak along too.

Jane, Mallory, Maggie, Charlie
Thanks to Groupon we  scored a great horse ride out in the country and Cousin Mallory joined along.
Big hit with the littles.

Memorable Pictures of the Summer

 I've been terrible at posting so here are some pics from our summer.

Gus on his blessing day.

Gus

This was us at Target. Gus is probably about three weeks old and Maggie wanted to hold him on her lap in the cart rather than have him in his carseat. We freaked a lot of customers out. They thought it was a doll and then he'd move or squeal. 

Maggie at Virginia Beach

Gus at the beach

I gave Charlie a skull glitter tattoo before our beach trip in hopes of him getting a really cool tan on his back but I ruined it the very first day by loading him up with oily sunscreen. Oops

Jane

Charlie and Gus in church

Jane turns 7!

Jane's birthday dinner at Red Robbin

Jane's dance recital

Charlie and Jane snuggling while watching tv

Farewell party for our friends at the park.
The rainstorm took over the place and there were mud puddles everywhere.
The kids were in heaven. 

Maggie at her dance recital

Baby

The day finally arrived. We are so happy to welcome Gus into our family. We have had him one whole week and he has been incredibly enjoyable. I was prepared to have a complete meltdown. I've been pleasantly surprised that it really hasn't been that bad. Of course maybe that's because I have a very kind and helpful husband and my sister Debi has been here and done everything. Yeah, that's probably why the transition has been easy. Ask me again when the help is gone and the kids are actually out of school.

Started out the morning with Mike having to put on this beauty before being aloud in the surgery room.  Gotta say it was nice having him wear this since my body has to lay cold and naked on the operating table.
We could feel like fools together. 

Mr. D being the kindest friend ever and rubbing my swollen feet.  Weird? Yep and I just let him.

Day after birth

Gus Michael
7.2lbs

Quotes

Maggie quotes:

"Mom, Bernie stinks we need to give her to a different family."
"Or we could just give her a bath"
"No, let's just give her to someone else."

"I wish you were all dead. Then I could do whatever I wanted. Like walk on the table and stuff."

"Jane has an ear infection but I have a hip infection, an arm infection and a face infection."

"I am never, never going to Satan's village."

"Mom plays with her friends, they just call it talking."
 
"I love Dad. I'm glad he's not dead yet."
 
"Jesus got stuck in a tube for three days. Then he comed out."  (tomb and resurrection)

"I ONLY YELL WHEN YOU DON'T GIVE ME WHAT I WANT."
Mom: "The answer is still no and never get what you want by getting angry"
"WELL, IF YOU WERE A NICE MOM THEN I WOULD NEVER HAVE TO GET MAD"
Mom: "You are going to have a long and miserable childhood."
"I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS!"

"I always tell you yes but sometimes in my mind I'm saying no."

Jane's Quotes

Jane: "I'm as full as a lady with two babies in her tummy."

Maggie: "Mom, Jane farted and didn't say excuse me."
Jane: "Mom, Maggie just said the F word"

Charlie's Quote:

"Mom do you twit?"
What?
"Do you twit on your phone?"
You mean tweet?
"No Mom, it's twit. I would like to start to twit."

January Break

We had no choice but to go and find warmer weather when our kids had a school break. Sunny Florida  

Legos store. It was amazeballs.

My favorite place we ate. In Hollywood Studios.
It's the Sci-fi diner and you eat out of cars while watching a drive in movie.

Disney: Always worth it.

Cocoa Beach for a Day

This year the kids were all tall enough to go on the rides they were interested in. Jane went on Tower of Terror and still tries to pretend that she enjoyed it. But Maggie went on it Seven times and really did love it. Mags is a little more like Charlie in the dare devil department.

Christmas Break

 We had a quiet Christmas followed by an exciting break with family and a wedding. Here are the pictures to prove it.