Happy Birthday Tate!

Happy Birthday to our Tate O Bug!! 6 Years Old! Tate had a great birthday! We had our family birthday party on Sunday, and then he got to have a friends party at the Living Planet Aquarium on Tuesday.

Tate's Birthday Party Friends!

Petting the stingrays

Tate handing out candies

Ugh! Tarantula! (The kids thought it was really cool though!)

Sterling and Tate driving the boat

Our host, Devonte, took the kids on a treasure hunt throughout the aquarium.






It snowed on Tate's birthday, which he thought was awesome! (I liked that it melted 2 days later :) He and Max had fun playing in the snow with Chad and building a fort. Justin and I stayed inside and watched from the front window.

Baby Justin!

Here (finally!!) are some pictures of our baby bug. The whole story and lots of pictures are on their way...I will probably wait until after the adoption is final in a month or so. I thought everyone might want to see this cute little guy who has wrapped us around his finger!

Our Little Christmas Miracle

We have wonderful news! In an amazing twist of events, baby J's sweet birth mother has asked us to be his permanent family, and unexpectedly relinquished all of her rights last week in court. We are thrilled beyond measure to be able to have this little Christmas blessing in our forever family! Our adoption date is set for March, and I promise to post a slew of pictures (and give the whole wonderful story!)

Decking the Halls

The boys have been requesting to set up our Christmas tree since Halloween. We were able to convince them to wait until after Thanksgiving. So, bright and early, the day after thanksgiving the boys were up and ready to decorate!

Tate hanging an ornament

Decorating the tree would not be complete without a bowl full of mint m and m's!

Max hanging up some of his decorations

The boys favorite part of decorating for Christmas is getting the "Christmas Train" out

Chad decorating the tree

Lindsay decorating the tree

Thanksgiving

We had a great Thanksgiving at my parent's house. There was plenty of yummy food, and it was great to be with our family. Here are some of the highlights!

Bri and Kev playing a little checkers

Chad, Tate, T, Bri, Max, Grandpa Craig, Kevin, and J setting up the electric trains

Mom and Grandma

Let's Eat!

We are definitely very grateful to have little J. in our home and in our lives. He received this darling bib from a nurse in the NICU who had fallen in love with him (who wouldnt?!)

The boys and I decided to make a "Mayflower" cake. Max is pretty sure it is a Max cake though, because we put "M"'s on each of our sails--and as far as he is concerned, every M stands for Max!

Of course we had to have a "silly" picture too!

Quick Update

We're home!! After 9 days in the hospital we made it home last Thursday. J is doing really well, and is already up to 6lb. 3 oz.! (He was born at 3 lb 7 oz, and we brought him home the first time at 4 lb 11 oz.) We still have some medical issues we are dealing with, but are happy to report that he is breathing at all times with no apnea! We love this little guy!

Deposit Prayers Here...

Wow! We had a wonderful first week home with our little guy. To say he is adored around here is an incredible understatement! Max and Tate love to kiss his little head, and are the greatest helpers around.

Unfortunately, on Tuesday, we noticed that he was not eating well and that something was just not right. After taking a temp (94.7) we called the pediatrician and were told to immediately go to the ER at Primary Children's Medical Center. Once there we learned that he was hypothermic and was experiencing significant apnea. The doctor's did a million tests, including a lumbar puncture. The lumbar puncture was the most excruciating part--it is the only time we have heard J. really scream. We were transferred up to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) and have now graduated to the infant medical/surgical unit. We still do not know what is causing his apnea. Each time he has an apneic event, we are guaranteed another 48 hours in the hospital.

Please pray for our little man, we are so grateful to have him in our lives, and cannot wait to bring him home again.