Well well well, where do I start. Since Halloween we have been to Peyton's doctor, finished beet and potato harvest, had Thanksgiving, cut Max's hair, met Santa, decorated the house for Christmas, became a rice cereal junkie, and drove Mom and Dad C.R.A.Z.Y., and had another preschool program.
November: I did not take a single picture of Thanksgiving. Bad mom I know. I was busy helping in the kitchen, and Troy was busy holding/chasing the kids. We had lunch at my Grandma's house with my side of the fam. It was... pretty good. No meltdowns or feuds erupted, so it was a success. Max ate mashed potatoes, carrots, a roll, and pumpkin pie. This is a vast improvement from last year where he ate crackers. Yes crackers. We missed the WBH family dinner, we actually didn't know when or where it was until the night before. So we decided not to hit the tail end of it and went home to relax. Good choice we were all exhausted. I wasn't planning on doing any black friday shopping, there was nothing I was willing to get up and fight crowds for this year. But after I woke up at 5 am and fed Peyton I decided to go. I went by myself, a LUXORY! Troy stayed home with the kids. I got most of my shopping done too.
A week later Peyton had an appointment with her pediatric cardiologist Dr. Wommack, in Ontario. He comes from Boise every 3-4 months. I was nervous to hear any bad news, Troy was optimistic though. She had a great check up. She is so happy and healthy looking you would never guess she had such a rare and serious heart condition. The nurses Dr. Wommack brought with him had never seen a transposition like hers. She was such a doll everyone in the office came to see her. She was wearing the onsie and headband Denise gave to her. After weighing her and getting her undressed the Dr. came in and said it was time for him to look at the poor neglected, malnutritioned baby. haha. Her heart is doing a great job of pumping the oxygenated blood where it needs to go, but the right ventricle is doing the bulk of the pumping, which is the left ventricle in everyone else. This is the concern. One day a long long long long long time form now the right ventricle may tire and give our or weaken, not pumping the blood with enough force to get it throughout her body. This is only a possibility though, it may NEVER happen. And she would just live a "normal" life with her condition. (We PRAY for that one) But just in case Dr. Wommack thinks it would be wise to start her on a heart medication this spring/summer to preserve the right ventricle from the get go. It's hard to believe there is something different about her heart, she is just so perfect! She loves to eat, laugh, play, sleep, cuddle, and coo. The Dr. reminded us not to treat her as though something is wrong with her, just let her do what she is meant to do he said. This is hard, Troy and I don't even let her cry very long or very forcefully because we know it puts stress on her little heart. But we also don't want her to grow up and think there is something wrong with her and not reach her full potential. What a do know is that I love her so much it is unreal. She was meant to come to our family, I cannot imagine my life without her in it.
Peyton 3 months
Waiting at the Dr.'s office.
Now this little man has been a changing. He is no longer a little boy, or so he thinks. He is trying to be so independent at times it is frustrating. Like riding a bike on the trampoline. I saw him struggling to heave the trike up there and thought if he can get it up there more power to him. Unfortunately he did get it up there, and he loved it. I watched carefully out the window.
He unrolled 3 rolls of toilet paper while I was in the shower, he was making it snow. I made him pick up all of the little pieces and throw them away and we re-rolled the big pieces. (I'm cheap like that).
He loved playing the carousel box, he broke a figurine and a flag off of it this year. He does not listen to a thing you say most of the time. But I know he is somewhat listening, he loves stories, especially Bible ones as of late. David and Goliath, and Jonah and the Whale are his favorites right now. He retells them perfectly so I know he's listening and learning.
Peyton turned four months old on the 11th. She is so sweet. Her laugh is so cute, it's really more like a grunt. She loves to play toys, reaching for things to put directly into her mouth. Her chubby cheeks get kissed I swear a thousand times a day by Max, Troy, and me. She drinks a 6 oz. bottle every 4 hours or so. She likes to be on her tummy, but can't quite roll over yet. She sleeps about 6-7 hours at a time. She LOVES the bath. Always has. I think I just have water babies. I put her in the big tub lying down by herself in shallow water and she kicked and waved her arms and smiled forever. She is really strong, I don't remember Max holding his head up or standing as soon as she did.
Santa came to Adrian. Max was really excited to tell Santa his Christmas list. Which is everything Batman and Hungry Hungry Hippos.
Her owl hat is my favorite.
I had Danielle's girls for a little bit. Alivia is such a little mommy to Peyton, she reminds me all the time that when she's older she will get to babysit Peyton all by herself. She read her a book and played with her.
Peyton is a rice cereal junkie. She loves it. She cannot get the next bite fast enough. She is still working on the swallowing aspect, she tries to suck on the spoon like a bottle. She has been on formula since 3 months. I just could not keep up with her demand. I would nurse her for 20-25 min. then 2 hours later she would want to nurse again. It was getting frustrating for her and me. I tried to pump but I had nothing.
Our Ward Christmas party was great. I helped decorate. Max was so anxious to see Santa, he waited in line and went up by himself no fear at all. He told him his list and we tried to snap a few pictures.
Max was very curious as to what was in Santa's bag.
Before Max's preschool program we had a little chat. He knew all of the songs and told me he would sing them with the other kids this time. I prepped and prepped him to stay in his seat, sing with the kids, and sit still. It was to no avail. He did everything I told him not to do... go figure.
He sat by his buddy Grayson, which was all good, until Max started playing the drums on Gray's head. Like 4 times. Gray is so nice it didn't seem like he was mad, they also started shaking their heads while all of the other kids were singing. Max sang about 9 words total. out of 5 songs. Little stink! I made him apologize to Grayson. He said sorry not too sincerely, then put his hand on Grayson's chest and said I'm sorry. It was pretty sweet. Hopefully Grayson will continue to put up with Max's wild ways. I think my new name for them is the "bobo brothers" from Diego. The twin monkeys that go around causing mischief and trouble.
Christmas is so close and I have a few projects I would really like to finish, I always tell myself to start in the summer, do I? Nope.
Max got to open a present too, he was pretty excited. We also went to see my Great Grandma Theda, that would be Max and Peytons Great Great Grandma! Wow, she lives at home and is still totally with it, she is so sweet too. We didn't stay long because Max was a terror. He was so naughty I was completely embarrassed so we didn't get any pictures. But it was nice to see them both.
Max was in present heaven, he handed out all of the presents and took his turn waiting to open his until someone opened one first. He was just as excited about a sweater as he was about his other toys. The lighting in our house is just awful!
My stepsister Danielle (little Dani) came out and played with Max, he loved it, I do believe he won every time.
Little Miss Peyton is getting to big, her hair is kinda Crazy. There is not very much of it, and she has an unfortunate bald spot on the back of her head. We are hoping it fills in soon. Troy is very aware of it and always makes her wear thick headbands to hide it. He is so in love with this little girl, it's pretty cute.
When I picked up Max from school he had a green bandaid on his forehead, I asked him why and he said he fell off the bed and bumped his head. Then I looked around and noticed that all of the kids had one on. He liked it and kept it on for a few hours at home.
