Happy Early V-day!!!

Today Eden is 7 weeks old!

Grandma Uglum got her this outfit and it just arrived in the mail!  She looks like a little Valentine sweetheart!  So Happy early Valentine's Day!!

Frosty...

Here is our version of Frosty the snowman...

Austin had to pretend to destroy it!

 

Keziah refused to smile unless Adah was in the picture also!

 

Tiny, but cute!  The girls were pretty proud anyway!  Keziah is still learning all these little things like how to roll a snowball...it's fun!  Playing with these kiddos never gets old!

My little sweet cheeks!!

Did I mention how hard it is to resist taking pictures of this sweet girl?

Shootin' some b-ball!

Austin has been in basketball this season.  He plays through the school now so all his practices are either before or after school and all his games are during the week!  He has had so much fun and is a really good player!  He steals the ball all the time and is really good at making shots.  He has had a little bit of trouble with his Osgood-Schlatters disease, but overall does pretty good.  I have been to almost all his home games and the girls and I really enjoy watching him play.  The first game we went to Keziah actually brought her pom poms and cheered him on (I'm sure he was gritting his teeth the whole time)!  We are always sure to take lots of snacks and a back pack full of stuff to do!  Austin is on the 'B' team so his team usually doesn't play until around 5.  I stick supper in the oven before I leave and set the timer and voila...it is ready to eat when we get home!  One of his home games I got to see he actually made a buzzer shot and won the game!  I was so proud of him!  His last game is Feb. 9 and we will be sad when it is over, but next up is track and he is pretty excited about that too!

So cute!!

She is getting quite the expressions these days!  I can't resist her sweet toothless grin and chubby chin!

Another Snow day!!

The three older kids played outside for quite a while today.  There is plenty of snow and plenty of time since today is another snow day!  Austin pulled the girls around in their new sled they got for their birthday and when he was too tired, Keziah did her best to pull Adah around (until she got tired and fell tired into the snow!).  When they were done outside they came in for some hot chocolate and relaxed on the living room floor. They all laid down next to each other...so sweet!

Eden's Iowa City Check-up!

The SHORT version...A long day, but an excellent day. No changes in Eden's brain or eyes. She weighed in at 8lbs. 1oz. (with her clothes on).  Growing like a weed...God is sooooo good!!

The LONG version...
Today was a long day but a really good long day!  It started about 7:20am when we left for Iowa City.  It's about a two and a half hour drive so we had to get going.  First thing on the agenda was an MRI @ 10:45.  Our paperwork said the MRI would take about an hour and knowing how still you have to lay for an MRI I was feeling so concerned that Eden would have to be sedated.  When we got there I made sure to nurse her ahead of time so she was good to go for a while.  When they called us back I asked if she was going to have to be sedated and if it would help for her to be swaddled.  The lady responded naunchalauntly by saying, 'oh no, this will just take a couple of minutes.'  I was so thankful (and a little irritated that we weren't told this ahead of time).  After they got her situated in the machine they took all the pictures they wanted and then realized they didn't turn out because she was screaming the whole time.  I went out to the waiting room and grabbed her paci and that worked like a charm.  One of the workers laid on the bed with her and held her head still with some head phones over her ears to protect them from the sound of the machine.  It was super loud!  Even I had to wear ear plugs!  When we were all done there we headed to our apt. with Dr. Lonnie Bilyeu (a PA) to discuss the MRI.  She didn't feel there were any changes in her brain since birth but she did mention a cist that we hadn't heard anybody talk about since before she was born.  When we were in Mason City for an ultrasound later in my pregnancy, Dr Hwang had mentioned a small cist but when we asked him about it he said it was the least of his worries.  We never thought another thing about it and actually even forgot about it.  When the doc. mentioned it she just said she wanted to ask the surgeon about it because the color of the fluid in it appeared to be different then the color in the ventricles and it shouldn't be that way because they both contain the spinal fluid so they should be the same color.  The surgeon had just gone back into surgery so she said she would have to call us later in the afternoon (when she called us back she said the fluid looks like a different color because the fluid isn't moving around in the cist like it is in the ventricles).  They are just going to watch the cist and make sure it doesn't grow.  It hasn't grown since our stay in the NICU so they aren't really concerned about it.  The doc measured her head and it is growing steadily so a very good appointment there for sure!!  We had about an hour and a half to kill and needed to eat some lunch so we left and got some Arby's!  When we got back to the hospital we had an apt. with Ohpthalmology (eye pediatrics).  At first we saw a few residents before seeing Dr. Arlene Drack.  The residents did a bunch of shining lights on her eyes, etc. to see how she reacted.  It was obvious she is seeing out of both of her eyes.  Then came the big test...they put some metal things on her eyelids to hold them open so they could scan her eyes and take some pictures of the back of her eyes.  It was incredibly interesting to see the pictures.  We hadn't seen her original scans from in the hospital either so it was all new.  The whole thing only took about 10-15 minutes but Eden cried the whole time.  I didn't want her to be in there alone so I went in with her and it was hard to watch!  They just kept reminding me that she couldn't feel it because of the numbing drops.  My poor baby!  We called Brian into the room so Dr. Drack could explain it all to us.  Her left eye is still completely healthy.  The doctor doesn't feel like that will ever change, however on her right eye she still has the same lesions that were there when she was born.  They also talked about some patches that are all over her retina.  These were also there when she was born.  They have never seen anything like it and really don't know what they are.  They told us they could be lesions that were starting to form that never did, or that may still form...whatever they are they said they are really far off in the peripheral vision
so they shouldn't ever effect her vision anyway.  As for the lesions that are there...they are right next to the optic nerve.  There are two or three (I can't remember).  They don't even think these should effect her vision except by small chance.  It is possible that one of the lesions will block some of the nerves that are trying to get from the macula (the central part of our vision) to the optic nerve.  This would cause a blindspot and maybe cause her right eye to become lazy.  They said then she would just wear a patch on her left eye to try to strengthen her right eye.  Dr. Drack offered us some other possibilities of what might be going on with her.  She thought maybe she just has a mild case of the Aicardi Syndrome (she has only seen a couple cases in her 20 years of service and any she has heard of all have lesions on BOTH eyes), she also thought that there might be a couple other possibilities that have a much better outcome (I am not very capable of explaining these :)).  Only time will tell as we watch her develope!
After all this we headed for home.  We had to make a quick pit stop to feed Eden but we were home in time to put the kids in bed by 8!  What an amazing and good day!  It couldn't have gone any smoother!  God is soooo good!  We will be going back for a day just like to day (all the same apts. at the same time) on April 19th.

UPDATE on CMA test:  When Eden was in the NICU they did a test called Chromosomal Microarray Analysis (CMA).  We just got the results back recently.  They said it didn't determine anything as far as a syndrome, etc.  There was however a duplicated DNA on chromosome 1 and 3.  This doesn't necessarily mean anything.  It is very possible that if Brian or I were tested it may show we have this same thing.  If one of us did have this, and since we are 'normal', that would rule out that it is even a factor in what is going on with Eden.  We would have to be tested to determine this obviously and it isn't covered by insurance.  I doubt we will do it since it isn't going to diagnos Eden with anything specific anyway.

Seesters!!

Oh how they adore each other so much! It's such a blessing to watch the three of them grow together!

Eden is 1 month and some recent pics!!

January 14-18 pictures!  I seriously can't stop taking pictures of her!  She is so beautiful and my camera is always so handy...I can't resist!!  At a month old Eden is giving us some sweet smiles.  I will work on catching one on camera.  It seems pretty difficult to get her to smile at you when you want her to but there is no doubt about it...these smiles are for real!  I love it that she is starting to interact with us!  So very precious!!

Can I hold her?

A question we hear A LOT!  I love it though...that must mean they really like her!

Happy 4th Birthday Brady!

Brian's sister's son, Brady turns four on the 19th.  They came home this weekend to celebrate with us (thanks guys for always being the ones to travel).  It was extra nice to see them since the last time they were home was when Eden was still in the NICU.  They were pretty excited to meet her too!  We did the usual jump on the bean-bags, watch the trains go by, open presents, eat cake and just plain have fun together.  Eden is going to fit right in with this bunch!

I can't believe Brady is already four!  Time goes by so fast!  We love you Brady and hope you have another great year!  Happy Birthday buddy!

SNOW!!!

Our first snowfall and thus our first snow day!  A great day for the three older ones to play outside and Eden and I to play inside!!!

At almost a month old (tomorrow she's a month) she is becoming so alert!  She spends most of her time sleeping still but when she is awake she is usually getting her exercise waving her arms and legs with excitement!  She has definitely smiled at us but isn't dishing them out daily by any means!  She is so sweet and cuddly and loving!  We can't get enough of her!

Seriously...

This kid is loving having all Eden's baby gear around.  She will not only put her babies in them, but she will sit and relax herself too!

A pirate?

This is what Keziah came up with today!  She declared she is a pirate and wore this for most of the day and when it was nap time she put it all in a pile and put it back on after she got up!  I love watching her become imaginative!  The patch on her eye is one of those small envelopes that she taped on.  She has a box on her head for a pirate hat, not sure what the rope represents...and she is using her play violin bow as a sword or maybe a cane?!!  So cute!

A Tradition!

This is something we do every year when we take down the Christmas tree!  It took A LOT of convincing to get Austin to do it.  I am thinking I am going to lose him one of these years!  He continues to be my goofy kid though and appease him momma!

The girls just had to get in on the fun too!  So here goes the first year for Keziah...

and Adah!  They are both just too cute!  I guess you can call this one of our family traditions (as strange as it is)!

So proud!

It's official...Keziah can write her name (aside from the Z looking like a backwards S)!  I first learned that she had this talent when we were sitting in church this last Sunday!  There wasn't great adventure for kids over age 2 because of the new year so she sat in with us.  She colored a picture and then wrote her name on it!  I was completely shocked!  I didn't teach her this.  I mean, sure she knows how to verbally spell her name and she also can identify each letter of the alphabet but to write it is a whole nother thing!  I am so proud!  I wish I could take credit for this but I can't!  Way to go Keziah!