Our day today...

It was a pretty good day today. Emma came home from Preschool and was extra playful with Thomas which is always so wonderful. :) She was extra kind and patient with him and they played so well most of the afternoon and evening. First thing she wanted to do was have a tea party with him and their "friends." Repunzel, Care Bear, Pluto, Unicorn, Thomas' doggy, Tigger and of course the hosts Thomas and Emma.  After about 45 minutes of preparations it maybe lasted about 3 to 5 minutes. HA!

Here is Emma's checklist of preparations for the Tea Party. Adorable.

Later I told the kids to go play outside while the sun was out. Emma had the idea of making paper airplanes. I don't have much skill with putting these babies together but they worked alright. The had fun together.

It was a good day!

Emma'isms..

The other day, Emma was watching me play and talk with Joseph. She kept commenting on how he is the cutest baby ever. :) She later said she wanted to marry Joseph. I asked her "why do you want to marry Joseph?" She said, "Because he is just SO cute."

The other day while driving to dance class Emma told me, "Mom, in the middle of the night I was thinking I wanted to go over to Emma Scott's house (our cute little 3 year old neighbor who Emma ADORES) and take one of her toys(probably a unicorn), but then I forgot about jail."
What in the world. Yes, we had a talk about that one.

She is SUCH a great big sister. I know I mention this a lot but Derek and I are always so proud of her in how well she treats Joseph and Thomas. (Well Thomas, most of the time:)

Joey Joe Joe Shabidoo!

Our Joey Joe Joe Shabidoo got his nickname one day a few weeks ago. It was Derek that started saying it and it's stuck ever since then. The kids say it and it's hilarious. Apparently the nick name comes from an episode from "the Simpsons." Heaven help us. Derek just BARELY googled it as I write this post and there it is. 

Joseph turned 16 weeks this past week. He is showing more and more expressions. He does give a little grin when he is excited about something like getting into the swing when he's tired, getting out of the swing when he's done, being put on the changing table just after he wakes up and getting his diaper changed and when he has his 20-30 minute happy wake time after eating. I love his expressions. I love the little coo's he gives me, melts my heart. 

Derek and I were talking last night saying what a good baby he is. He really is. He is a happy and content baby. Last Sunday, February 10th we woke up that morning and I nudged Derek telling him that the little man slept through the night. Let the Heaven Angels sing!! Glorious. I felt like a  new woman. He's been sleeping pretty good since. :)

We have his next appointment the last week of this month. I bet he will be at least 9 1/2 pounds. So happy how well he is growing.

We sat and watched some home videos tonight and came across the hospital just after I delivered Joseph. Tears weld up in my eyes as I watched what a complete God given miracle this little boy truly is. I watched him lay on that table with all the medical crew working on him and seeing his chest retracting, fighting for his life. 

I got an email a couple months ago from a dear friend of mine, Mimi. She is best friends with one of the incredible nurses at the Orem Community Hospital, her name is Lori. If you ever deliver at that hospital with Lori as your nurse, you are one lucky gal. She is incredible. She was my delivery nurse for Thomas. I wanted to so badly for her to be there when Joseph was born but instead she came onto shift my last morning. Better late then never. Of course I knew her right away and then I reminded her who I was and she remembered that I knew her friend Mimi and so on. Well Mimi wrote me this sweet and touching email regarding the morning of October 23, 2012 the morning Joseph decided to come so suddenly. The Lords hand was in ALL of this, from the very beginning and I am forever grateful for his tender mercies and miracles he poured onto our family on that day and from then on.

Orem Community is not a high risk delivery hospital. My doctor said if he would have known how progressed in labor I was, not being able to stop it, he would have sent us to UVRMC instead. But of course if I was sent to Provo, I probably would have had him in the car. How terrible would that have been?  The Lords hand was in this the whole time.

Here is the email from Mimi about her conversation with the nurse Lori...

 

I told Lori how quickly Joseph came and she told me about that day that you came in. She said that it was miracle after miracle that the staff who were there to help you were working at that time. The NICU from Provo hospital just "happened" to be there, the nurses on that shift were some of the best (most experienced) nurses you could've asked for--totally perfect to handle what was going on with you and Joseph, and there also happened to be a pediatrician there--which NEVER happens. It was like you called and arranged to have the best of the best there at that very moment. Lori said that if those specific people hadn't of been there all at that time then little Joseph would have had a MUCH more difficult time at the beginning.
I'm not sure if you knew the background of that day but I just wanted to drop you a line and let you know how much Heavenly Father is watching out for you and your awesome family. 

And look at him now. Our little miracle boy who is happy and healthy. Our anxious little spirit that wanted so badly to come into our family. We are so blessed to have him.

Reading with him last night. I love his expressions.

Valentines 2013

 So this is how we roll on Valentines. Emma and Thomas were so excited for the big Valentines day coming up. Valentine's Day is so great because it's something fun to look forward too after looong January (except for having our Anniversary in January, that's wonderful of course). Valentine's is a day to remember the blessings of all the loved ones in our life.

Our V-day started on the 13th since that was Emma's preschool V-day party! She was SO excited! Here the kids are eating oatmeal with heart shaped strawberries. Yum. 

Our table of goodies that need to be delivered.

 Emma made this card for her Preschool teacher Miss Valerie. How cute. She wrote most of the card by herself, pretty impressive.

 Giving her card to Miss Valerie.

 Emma and Thomas making their Valentine cards for Daddy while he is at Scouts. They were excited to let them dry and give to him the next day. Emma remembered the morning of Valentines but Thomas forgot hahahha. After I reminded him that morning then he was excited to give it to Daddy.

 Derek got me some flowers

 "Spider Man" (yes, when Thomas is wearing his spider man pajamas, we must call him 'Spider Man' and he is always quick to remind us). Here he is holding the pillow I made him. It's a hand signing "I love You" and "love, Mommy." I always sign "I love you" to my children as I tuck them in at night. It took months and months and months for Thomas to get the coordination to sign it with his cute little fingers. Finally about six months ago, HE GOT IT. And he's been signing it ever since along with other signs. He LOVES sign language. He was pretty proud of his pillow. Yay.

 

 Yummy V-day breakfast, thank you Daddy. He really does make the best waffles.

 Traditionally I like to make a "Love" Valentine scrapbook page for each member of my family to display the morning of Valentines for them to look at and read. Well, I got Derek's done but the children's is still in progress. I've been a little busy :) Here is Derek's page/card. It says, "2,747 days ago I told you I love you." That was on August 8, 2005. It's fun to think about those fun days. These days are fun as well but it's fun to look back at that time in our lives together.

 The kids got a treat at the front door that  morning. (the treat was from their Daddy, ssshhh). Thomas was determined that it was from Mickey Mouse.

 The kids getting ready to drop off our goodies to friends.

 SUCH a cute picture of my little Valentines. Joseph was awake for a very short time during all the excitement but he sure is cute, they all are. :)

I only got a few pictures of deliveries. I wish I got a picture of Thomas delivering to his best friend Gavin Jones. They hugged each other at the door, melt my heart.

 Here were some of the deliveries...

 

Derek and the kids set up a treasure hunt for me through out the house to find a box of chocolates. Then just as Derek left for work there was a knock at the front door and on the step was a case of Cherry Coke. He knows me well :)

   This is the necklace I gave Emma that says "I love you" in sign language. I told her when she wears it, it will remind her that no matter where she is she will always be reminded how loved she is by her parents, her family, and her Heavenly Father.

 Still going strong in the evening of making those last deliveries. I must say they crack me up!

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!

toenail treasure, mickey mouse and 8 pounder :)

 What is that in Emma's bag you might ask? It's her toenail that has finally removed itself from the bed of her injured big left toe. Back in November, our bench fell right on top of Emma's big toe and cut the tip of it off. When the doc in the ER stitched it all back together, the doctor kept her toenail on the bed of her toe to help guide the new toenail back in. Well, after much care to her big toe and wearing her cool shoe to protect it for over a  month, the toe has healed quite nicely. And FINALLY, FINALLY it was a joyous day when the toe nail parted from Emma's toe a couple weeks ago. She called so many people to tell them the GREAT news and made it clear she wanted to keep the toenail. Ew. Days later she was distraught that she lost her toe nail. We tried consoling her and I may have thrown in that it's actually gross to keep the old toe nail.  But I finally convinced her it would be okay by showing her some of the other cool things I've kept like a lock of hair that I kept from her first hair cut, some movie ticket stubs from when we saw "Tangled" and others. She thought it was so cool to see those little treasures then felt much better about losing that big gross toe nail because she has other cool treasures.

Then earlier last week I hear running and yelling with excitement that she found her toenail by the  toilet. Oh joy. So now she holds it close to her in a special plastic bag and white box.

 Meet Mickey Mouse. Last week Thomas found and discovered his Mickey Mouse hat he got at Disneyland over a year ago. Ever since he found it he's been waiting to find our old Mickey Mouse stuffed toy and still can't find the little thing. So he has slept with Minnie Mouse and Pluto, that should do for now. :)

And EVERY day when we're asking him "Thomas, can you go get a diaper for me?" "Thomas, can you pick up the marbles on the floor?" " Thomas can you bring your plate to the sink?" He always, always responds with "Say Mickey Mouse." We then have to correct ourselves and say "okay Mickey Mouse, can you......" and so on. He is so funny. He is adamant that we call him Mickey Mouse.

And this little man is doing very well. We had his third Synagis shot today. The Synagis shot is an RSV vaccine that they give Preemie babies during the RSV season. It costs an arm and a leg because insurance doesn't cover it, but you got to do what you got to do. We are working it out some how. It's helped him so far. It doesn't keep your Preemie from getting sick but can help decrease chances a cold turning into RSV for a baby.  He got sick a couple weeks ago with lots of congestion and caught the cough that Emma and Thomas were sportin'. His little body finally fought it but it took some time. Just grateful it didn't turn to RSV.

Joseph is 14 weeks this week and had him weighed today. He weighs 8 pounds 12 oz. WOOHOO! So glad he's growing so well. We have been so blessed.

 14 weeks! :) I wish I could get a cute baby naked picture of him but he WILL NOT do naked pictures. He has to have clothes on at all times. Having just a onesie is pushin' it. I love his chubby thighs :)

Look who is 3 months old!

 It's hard to believe that it's been 3 months since this sweet baby came to our family. He was supposed to be a Christmas baby but decided to join us as an early Christmas present, on Oct. 23, 2012. He has been a fighter through all of this and has been doing so well.

We have just loved him and are so relieved and thrilled to have Joseph home. He was weighed a couple weeks ago at about 7 1/2 pounds. 

Here he is at 3 months. (picture was actually taken last week)

We love you Joseph boy!