2008 in Review

We have had a very memorable year and we have been so blessed. Here is a little review of what happened this past year.

January - David started a new position at his job.

February - We found out I had polyhydramnios and we took the only preggo picture of me!

And Auntie Kimberlee had a beautiful baby girl!

March - Samuel was born 2 months early via c-section. He had to have 2 surgeries when he was only 2 days old! My parents came out to stay with us for a couple of weeks and it was wonderful to have them with us!

April - Samuel still in the NICU...that month was really a blur because it just seems that we were in the hospital every day. Near the end of the month Uncle Ben and Auntie Melaina came for a visit!

May - Samantha's first Mothers Day as a mom and the best present was that Samuel got to come home from the hospital a week later.

June - I was in the hospital for the first week. Samuel was blessed and both sets of grandparents came out for the event and I got laid off from my job

July - I was unemployed the entire month (turns out this was a huge blessing for me because it allowed me some time to recuperate from both of the surgeries).

August - I started my new job which I really love because I have really great co-workers. Auntie Tammy had a cute little baby girl!

September -Lots of doctors appointments for Samuel getting ready for the second surgery

October - Samuel's second surgery. Papa and Grandma came out to take care for Samuel while David and I were at work.

November - Grandpa, Grandma, Uncle Brent, Aunt Judy came to visit at the beginning of the month. Bob, Jo, and kids came at the middle of the month. WE LOVE VISITORS!!! Samuel's first Thanksgiving.....oh, and Uncle Warren also dropped in for a surprise visit.

December - Samuel had a little out patient procedure to prepare for the final surgery. Samuel's first Christmas. Samuel's first TOOTH broke through his gums (careful, its pretty sharp) and he is a pro at sitting up on his own.

What we can expect for 2009.....Samuel will have his third (and hopefully final) surgery. Auntie Katie is going to have a baby boy! Hopefully we have family and friends come visit us and we also really hope that we will be able to visit our friends and family out west.

Samuel will continue growing quickly and in 2009 he will get more teeth, start walking, and likely start saying some words. We are excited for 2009 and we wish each of you much happiness and success in the year to come!

Merry Christmas!

Samuel's first Christmas was wonderful! Last Saturday we went with some friends to Hollywood Studios and had a lot of fun watching the Osborne Dancing Lights and then we went on Toy Story Mania!

Then on Tuesday we went to the mall so that Samuel could meet Santa. He fell asleep while we were in line and woke up as I put him on Santa's lap. Santa is great with children so Samuel wasn't scared, just a little confused about what was going on :)

Christmas morning was wonderful. Samuel was happy to open present because he loves to rip paper. Although I think he was a little surprised that we were actually encouraging him to do so because we usually try to take the paper from him.

As you can see by the picture below, Samuel received many wonderful presents. Thank you all for making this Christmas so lovely.

Funny story about the car that Samuel is sitting on - One of David's coworkers received it from Target by she hadn't ordered it. She called Target and told them about the mistake. Target told her to just go ahead and keep it. Well, she doesn't have any children so she decided to give it to Samuel. I figured Samuel wouldn't be able to use it for a while, but to my surprise, it is just right for him right now. He loves it!

Sitting is Cool!

Its funny how quickly Samuel is changing. It seems like some things he does just overnight. Sitting is the perfect example. We have been working with him on sitting for a while, but he was so wobbly, but then the next day he just decided he was ready to sit. Now he loves sitting. He likes to sit straight up in his stroller, bathtub, and even on his changing table. He has always loved his changing table so today we took a picture of him sitting on it.

Yesterday we went to have some pictures taken so I thought I would share those with this post too.

He is such a sweet little boy and he growing up so quickly. He is doing pretty well. The doctor has released him to go back to daycare tomorrow. He still needs the 4 nebulizer treatments every day, but he isn't wheezing as much any more.

One Sad Day

Well we just got home from the doctors offices and we aren't happy. I am not sure if I mentioned this before, but the day before Thanksgiving Samuel wasn't feeling very well so we went to the after-hours clinic. The doctor said he had bronchiolitus and gave us a nebulizer. Since then we have been giving Samuel 4 treatments a day, but he hadn't been getting better and then last night it seemed like he got worse! Today we went to the pediatrician to follow-up and she wanted us to go back to the clinic to get a chest x-ray and RSV test....so after about 3.5 hours of doctors offices Samuel has been diagnosed with RSV and pneumonia!!!
I am scared because Samuel had RSV in the NICU and that was when we got the phone call in the middle of the night that we needed to get there as soon as possible because the neonatalogist was worried about Samuel. (Keep in mind, Samuel had had major surgery and had overcome a lot while in the NICU but the only time the doctor said he was worried was that night.) Samuel is stronger now than he was then, but it is still scary.
So, Samuel will not be having surgery tomorrow. It has been cancelled and we wont be able to re-schedule for about 3-6 weeks because he has to be completely over this so that he can safely go under anesthesia.
Samuel will still be having the nebulizer treatments and he will also be treated with lots of snuggles and kisses from Mom and Dad, and hopefully he will be better in no time!