Now You Know What Nick Did Last Week ;0)

Here are some more pictures from last week :0)

Having spaghetti for the first time

Mmmm...interesting

Playing at MyGym

Riding the train

Bouncy, Bouncy

Shopping with Ara

Random Nick Pix

Here are some pretty recent pics of Nicholas.

Mom's boys napping

Our Piano Prodigy


Baby Bach

All worn out...fell asleep during dinner

The camera flash didn't even wake him up

SUCCESS!!!!!!!!!

I have been trying since Nicholas was 4 months to get him to drink out of a sippy cup! Our friend Nicole got him a special sippy cup with a straw from Japan. We had Ara show Nick how to drink out of it and within SECONDS he was drinking!!! Nicole & I cheered him on and he finished 4 ounces of juice. Then, I put his milk in it and he drank all of that too :0) WAHOOOOO! He's FINALLY drinking out of a cup :0) He even cries and points to his new cup for a drink. YES...another milestone achieved!

Thanks Nicole & Ara :0)

Nick & Ara

We went to lunch with our friends Nicole & Ara today. Steve (Ara’s Daddy) and John met us too. We all had a nice lunch at Café Rio. Nicholas ate an entire quesadilla (kid’s size, of course!). After lunch, Nicole & Ara came to our house to play. Jackson was very excited to have friends over as well. Ara just loved to chase and pet Jackson. Jackson loved the attention :0) The kids played well together and had a ton of fun. Of course, they wanted to play with the same toy at the same time. But, they were both very good at sharing. It is funny to watch babies share, they put it right up in the other one’s face. HAHA They don’t seem to mind. We gave the kids cookies for a treat. Nick was more interested in playing with Ara’s feet as she was sitting in his highchair than his cookie. After a while, Ara & Nick got worn out (they lasted much longer than Nicole & I thought they would!). Nicholas is still napping from his fun day! We can’t wait to do it again real soon :0)

I found Nick in my Pampered Chef box this morning.

Nick & Ara playing with the cookie puzzle

Jackson getting in on the fun!

Posing for the camera

Do you like my Fridge Farm?

Why is it when one child looks up and smiles, the other one looks away!?

Stick a fork in Ara, she's DONE!

Nick Pics

Here are a few recent pics of Nicholas :0)

This is how Nick prefers to nap. On the couch, not in his comfortable crib!

Ridin' a zebra :0)

Ara & Nicole opening presents at Ara's 1st Birthday party :0)

Nick & Ara

Coloring with Andy

Another haircut!

What Nick's Been Up To

We are starting to look for our family car, so we went to the Auto Show last Sunday. Nicholas loved getting in the driver’s seat and pretending to drive. He also liked to crawl around and stand on the back seats. I think he didn’t know cars came with that much room in them! HAHA We went with a few cars (3…maybe 4) in mind and left with over 10! John and I usually get the same car we already have, so we just need to pick the new color. This time we have a lot of work ahead of us.

Nicholas felt well enough to go to gymnastics this week. He didn’t want to be held back, so he screamed when I tried to contain him. Luckily, it is so nice and baby-proofed that he can explore on his own. He also had his follow up appointment with his doctor yesterday. He gets so excited when Dr. Kelly comes in now. Then, he pretends to by shy…it is pretty cute. Nicholas got a clean bill of health. We are going to hold off on the GI specialist for now to see if Nick is over his illness. I hope that he is done with being sick and going to the hospital! We went to Bouncin’ off the Walls with some friends today. Nicholas had much more fun today than he did on his birthday (remember…he cried and screamed the whole time!?). He was laughing and squealing as we went down the slides and bounced in the bounce house. All the kids had fun :0) Nick is getting his 4th haircut tomorrow. I am sure that I will take pictures and share them with you all.

Nick & Daddy at the Auto Show

Playing during gymnastics

Waiting for Dr. Kelly to come in

First ride in the big boy seat

Bouncin' off the Walls

Look at me!

Sharing snacks

I like Nick in this one...he looks chubby :0)

What Do Ya Mean

...we need a bigger car!?

Can you find Nicholas!?

...Nick needs a bigger car seat!?

Look at those legs haning out! Nicholas FINALLY hit 20 lbs and got his new car seat!!

Checkin' out his big boy seat.

Jinxed Us AGAIN!!!

I thought this picture went with this entry...Nick looks so seroius!

Well…you’d think I would have learned my lesson last time! Nicholas and I spent most of our day at Primary Children’s Hospital yesterday! John met us up there after work. Nick started refusing to eat or drink yesterday afternoon. He did this last time before we took him in to the hospital, so I immediately called the doctor. I talked with Donna Lee (the nurse), my new best friend, about what was going on. She was concerned that Nicholas was still throwing up. She hadn’t heard from me over the weekend (which is unusual!!) that he was still throwing up, so she thought he was better. Donna Lee spoke with the doctor and they were both concerned that he had been sick so many times in such a short period of time. So, they told me to go right to Primary Children’s. They said for me to tell them to call them because they wanted X-rays and a few other tests done. I asked if I should wait until John got home, which would be a few hours. They said no, so I packed Nick and headed on the familiar route up to the Primary Children’s Hospital.

When we got to Primary I told them what was going on and that we had been in several times already for the same symptoms in less than 2 months. They looked us up in the computer and looked a bit concerned. That was OH SO reassuring! The waiting room was slammed, so they told me that they’d get a room ready ASAP. We sat there as everyone else was called back. Finally, we were called. I started to head to the ER doors that I know so well, but they waved me to another set of doors. Immediately panic started to set in. As we walked through the “other” doors, I noticed that they said “RTU” which stands for Rapid Treatment Unit. Ah yes, the RTU, I have heard about it every time we have been in to Primary. The doctors always warned me that Nicholas may have to go there overnight to fully recover. I started to prepare myself that this might be the night that Nicholas had to stay over. We were taken to a room that much nicer (for a hospital room that is!) and bigger than our ER rooms. We even had our own bathroom. As we walked in, a doctor and 2 nurses followed us in. From there it was a whirlwind. They asked tons of questions and ordered TONS of tests (much more than usual). I didn’t even have to tell them to call Dr. Kelly; they ordered X-rays, etc. on their own. Within minutes, Nick had a catheter, IV, blood tests, and X-rays. He was such a good little guy, he didn’t cry too much when he was being poked and prodded. He even seemed to know that he was getting an IV (how sad!). He just watched the nurses get the things ready on the table and stuck his hand right out when they came to him. The nurses were amazed…they had never had a baby just put out his hand for them to poke (he pulled it away a few times, but didn’t put up a fight at all. It was almost a game to him.). Nick’s main nurse, Kim, could tell that I was a bit anxious. She explained everything that they were doing and warned me that depending on the test results, we may have to stay overnight. She reassured me that she would be there all night and that Nicholas would be very well taken care of. Kim helped a lot, but I still did not want him to have to stay overnight.

Nicholas was happy to see his Daddy when John got there. After a while, the doctor came in and told us that most of the tests came back good, but they saw something on the X-ray that they wanted to check out. He thought Nick might have Intussusception (where a part of the intestine folds inward and into itself likes a telescope). Unfortunately, we knew what this was already because our friend’s son Brennan went through this not too long ago :0( The doc ordered an ultrasound so they could get a better look. Luckily, the technician told us while the test was going on that he did not see anything. But, the doctor said that Nicholas could still have Intermittent Intussusceptions where it could be unfolding itself. GREAT! Then, the doc wanted to see if Nick could keep anything down, so they brought in a popsicle, apple juice, and crackers. He gobbled everything down and kept it down, so that was good. The doctor said that since Nicholas was able to eat and drink, we could go home. But, he wanted us to get Nick into his doctor ASAP and to have an Upper GI test done again (this is the test where he was strapped to a board and had to drink Barium when he was only a few days old...remember that trauma!?). I was happy that Nick did not have to stay overnight, but frustrated that we still have no idea what is causing him to throw up all the time!! We’re going into the doctor tomorrow (we decided to give him a day off from medical testing!) so I will let you know what we find out then! Poor Nicholas :0( Hopefully we’ll get a diagnosis soon!!! More soon…

2007 Family Update

Here are pictures from New Year’s Eve. Nicholas still wasn’t feeling too great on New Year’s so we just stayed in and had a pretty low-key night. He was walking around a bit more than usual. My parents left on New Year’s Day. We had another nice visit :0) Nick is really starting to recognize and remember his grandparents and uncle (He better be, he saw them almost every month his first year!!). You can tell he really loves them :0) He and Jackson would wait at the window for everyone to come over each morning. Then, Nicholas had the tough decision of who he wanted to have pick him up first. Once he decided, he would crawl or walk over to "the chosen one" and put his arms up. He loved to be passed around and show off for everyone. He started a new screeching thing (kinda like a Howler Monkey…haha) while my family was out. John and I got to go out to the movies a few nights with my brother while my parents babysat. It was weird to be out without Nicholas and to actually see a movie in the theatres. I could really get used to that :0)

Nick has started trying new foods. His favorite things so far are pizza and hush puppies. Very interesting choices aren’t they? Nicholas picked up another new talent…being able to make himself throw up when he doesn’t like a new food! He threw up almost every night when we went to dinner. It was fabulous. Nothing better than a baby vomiting at the table while you are eating!! I have cleaning him and the table up down to a real science now. I checked with the doctor and he said that babies often do that when transitioning to “table foods” and that he’d grow out of it. We thought that Nick wasn’t sick anymore, just not enjoying his new foods. Then, he started showing other signs of being sick again on Friday. He’s got a fever and his throwing up. Every time it seems that he is better, he throws up. He especially loves to do it in restaurants, just ask our friends Shauna & Abby!!! I don’t even want to speculate about another hospital visit this time…remember what happened last time I did that!? Anyway, I spend my entire day holding Nicholas while he sleeps, cries, and vomits. I hope that he will be back to his normal self soon (although I am not sure when that will happen…I don’t know if he has ever fully recovered from the first time this happened back in early November!!). It is so sad to see him so sad and sick.

John started his new job at Spillman, Inc. last Tuesday. So far he likes it a lot. He is on the fire department team. He will be making software that firefighters all across the country use. Seems pretty interesting. Spillman is 5 miles from our house (his last job was only 4 miles ;0) so he still gets to come home and have lunch with us. Nicholas loves to see his Daddy for lunch! Spillman seems to be a very family oriented company with lots of nice perks. My favorite being the use of the company condos in Anaheim and Bear Lake :0) We’ll update you on how we are all doing soon.

Christmas Day 2006

Here are some pics from Christmas Day :0)

Playing with Santa presents

Nerd in Training! HAHA

This is cool!

Sharing blocks with Grandpa

Christmas Eve 2006

Here are some pictures of Nicholas from tonight (Christmas Eve). Nicholas got sick again yesterday (throwing up and all)! He still had a pretty high fever tonight, but no throwing up (thank goodness!). Poor little guy seems to be sick all the time! Hopefully he'll be better in the morning!! Check back soon for Christmas Day pictures.

MERRY CHRISTMAS :0)