Hunter's 3rd Birthday!

Santa cupcakes I made for Hunter's party.


Hunter had a great 3rd Birthday! We celebrated with a fun party Saturday. He loved his new bounce house from Mimi and Bapa and wanted to jump late into the night. We had Santa come again and that was a hit. It's always fun to see the kids' reactions to Santa.

At school on Tuesday, he got to wear a crown and had "Happy Birthday" sung to him in chapel. It was precious to watch! At his 3 year appointment everything was right on track. When I told him that he was going to get one shot, he surprised me by saying, "Ok, I'll roll up my pants and she can give me my shot right here on my leg." He did not even flinch and was a total sport! Wow! I'm not even that good.

The family after Hunter's fun party!

Hunter and Blake with Santa!

Hunter telling Santa what a good golfer his Daddy is.

Jumping like crazy in his new bounce house!

Hunter in chapel with his crown on.

My boys!

My cute kids and.... Blake and Luke meet

These pictures just verify what I already know... Blake and Hunter are the cutest kids I know! Too bad there are about 100 more pictures I just couldn't possibly share on the blog. These are some of my favorites from the last couple of days!








Yesterday, Blake and his bestest friend got together for the first time. Blake was 18days old and Luke was 9 days old when they first met. Cari and I could not resist taking a million pictures of them "sleeping" through their first playdate.
(Oh yes, they are in the same outfit!) Also, Luke is on the left, Blake is on the right!

Life around here and an update on Dana

Well, we are 2 weeks into having 2 kids. So far, so good!

Blake had his two week appointment yesterday morning. Everything is going great- he is healthy and happy. He was almost back to his birth weight yesterday, weighing in at 8 lbs 11 oz. I asked if I needed to wake him at night to feed, and was told that if he slept, let him! Ok, you don't need to tell me twice!

Blake typically wakes up in the morning around 7:30-8 with me lifting him out of his Moses basket. He eats every 2 1/2 to 3 hours, often having to be woken up from a deep sleep. He is happy sleeping in the bouncy seat, the swing or his bed. He loves to be swaddled, just like Hunter did. At night, he cluster feeds every 2 hours from 6:00 on. Our last feeding is around 10 and then it's lights out for the night. He has been waking up ONCE a night so far. Usually around 3:30-4, I hear him stirring, so I have been feeding him then. He then lasts until the 7:30 feeding. It's incredible... I am not going to lie!

I have not felt the utter exhaustion that comes with a newborn so far. Let's hope he has nothing tricky up his sleeves! We are just counting our blessings that he is the sleeper that he is!

Hunter has been precious so far with Blake. He insists on calling him Baby Blake and loves to tell me, "He's so tiny. Let me touch him." He is very gentle and just this morning I caught him on video consoling Blake when he was crying. Hunter was repeating in his very sweet voice, "It's okay. Don't cry Baby Blake." It was too cute.

We did make it to Waco over the holidays after all. Chris had planned all along to visit and take Hunter after Thanksgiving. Since I have felt so good and Blake has been such a great baby, we tagged along. I was anxious to see Dana since I had not gotten the chance before. I was never able to get to Waco since she was hospitalized since Blake was due anyday. We did get to go up to ICU to see her and she opened her eyes. I was able to talk to her and tell her about Blake and when I told her that I thought he looked so much like Chris, I could tell she wanted to say something so badly. I thought she looked really good considering all that she has been through. The day before she had been talking and the day after we visited she was able to talk. However, on Friday when I was up there, she was not able to respond. All she was able to do was open her eyes and look at us. There was no change of expression on her face as you talked to her, but Scott assured us that she understood everything we were saying and knew we were there. I am just so glad I finally got the chance to tell her how proud I was of her and encourage her to keep on fighting.

Many of you have asked for an UPDATE on Dana, so here's what I know....
She will be moved to Fort Worth to an intensive long-term rehab hospital tomorrow (WED.). The plan is that she will stay there until she is well enough to return home. Doctors are very vague about how much time this will take. Some have suggested that it could range from 6 weeks to 6 months. She overcame incredible odds by beating ARDS (Adult Respiratory Distress Syndrome). Honestly, it is by the power of prayers that she came through that AND open heart surgery. Currently, she is still on the ventilator, but is doing well as they take her off periodically. She is healing from the open heart surgery well. She does not have any movement in her hands or legs right now due to nerve damage. That will be addressed at rehab and is common in patients that have gone through all that she has. She is still mildly sedated considering her pain and tracheostomy.

I still catch myself reaching for the phone to call her to tell her a funny story about Hunter or report Blake's latest. It's so unreal to think that a month has passed without being able to talk to her and share things with her. I cannot wait for the day to come when I can do that again. We are so humbled by the prayers that poured in on her behalf and know whole-heartedly that God showed us a true miracle by healing her. While she still has a long recovery ahead, we are so thankful that He saw it fit to keep one of His greatest servants with us!