Oktoberfest 2009

"Roll out the barrel, we'll have a barrel of fun!" (Beer Barrel Polka)











As is a tradition that my mom and Brian started, we went to the Oktoberfest at Snowbird last weekend. Jake and I both LOVE the food, dancing, alpine slide, tram, German bands... what is there not to love about the Oktoberfest. We had such a good time and Ellie loved it! Especially the dancing, alpine slide, and the face painting. Doesn't she look great by the way? It is so beautiful up at Snowbird in September too. We couldn't have asked for nicer weather or for better kids.

They were pretty tired by the end of the afternoon but were troopers to go to the BYU game with us. Now, that wasn't quite as fun to watch your favorite team get slaughtered...

Its Already Started...

The following day after the Heart Walk, Nathan and Ellie both came down with a good cold and runny noses. By Monday Ellie was still the same, but Nathan really began to have a hard time breathing. He was coughing all night long and by Monday evening he was having a hard time catching his breath period. Jake took him to the Spanish Fork clinic where they took pictures of Nathan's lungs and determined he had croup. Fabulous. Jake came home with a new additional to our home health care stash; our friend The Nebulizer. The first night it frigtened Nathan so bad we had to hold his arms and legs down while the other gave him the treatment. That 15 minutes seemed like an eternity. By Wednesday Nathan was a champ at his breathing treatments. If it started to slide down his face he would push it up just like his glasses. I hope that Nathan won't have any lasting memories of this part of his life.

Did I mention its going to be a LONG WINTER?

Walk for Healing Hearts

On Saturday, September 12th, we attended the Intermountain Healing Hearts walk. This was the second year for the walk and is intended to raise money for the support group to families like us who have a child or family member affected by a congenital heart defect. I've said it over and over again on this blog, but I feel really grateful to be a part of this group. There is something about sharing such a difficult experience with people like you who understand the emotions of extreme sorrow, hope, and rejoicing. We've made life long friends and its really helped Jake and I to appreciate what we've got.

We're so glad that Kathleen, Kristin, Libby, Mallory, Mom, Dad, and Stephen were able to attend with us to support Nathan. I cannot believe how far Nathan has come since his birth. We've had many ups and downs in the last year and its been nice to have such a good family support system. From my understanding, I think it will be held again next year during the second weekend of September. We can't wait!

First Day of Preschool

I can't believe that Ellie started preschool this year. Last year we intentionally kept her out of school because we were concerned about the germs that she would bring home to Nathan. We used preschool as a way to encourage her to not have anymore accidents and so far it has worked. She loves being able to go to school with her friend, Heidi, in our ward. We are carpooling with Heidi's mom and so Jake and I are responsible to take them to school 1 day a week. Ellie is attending the Raspberry Sawhorse Preschool in Mapleton with Ms. Jackie as her teacher.

I am very impressed with how the preschool is run and about what it being taught. Ellie came home and told us the other day that she was learning to share in preschool. She said, "I'm so good at it!" When Jake questioned her about sharing at home she responded, "Well, I don't know Dad. That seems a little too hard to share at home and at school!" What a little stinker!

All of that aside, she is having a good time and I can't believe that in a year she'll be going to school with Jake.

Dr. Park

(Isn't it cute that Nathan is signing "All Done" in the picture!) I love baby signing time!

Dr. Park is by far one of my very favorite doctors of Nathan's. I remember vividly the day after Nathan was born how I had gotten a call from Dr. Park saying that Nathan was struggling significantly to breath and it was due to his severely recessed jaw. He didn't mention to me that Nathan had a code blue call for him in the NICU at Primary's that day(nor did Jake bother to tell me till 2 weeks later!). He was very kind yet concerned that as his mother I had to make the decision whether to operate or not. I was so frightened having to make a decision for a baby I'd only held for 2 minutes on the day of his birth before they had transferred him to the NICU at Utah Valley Regional. In the middle of the night he was determined to be sick enough to warrant having the LIFE FLIGHT team transfer him to Primary's. I'd never seen this doctor's face or had a conversation like this before, but the distinct impression I had was to tell him yes, I would consent to him performing surgery in the morning on Nathan.

He did a fabulous job on him then. He's worked very closely with us to take care of Nathan's severe obstruction sleep apnea. Though I didn't choose him to repair Nathan's cleft, he didn't treat us differently because of it. He's always told us like it is and said what he would do if it were his child. When Nathan had his tonsilectomy, he told us that a small percentage of children don't tolerate the surgery well and what could possibly happen. He even had the forethought to say that he felt Nathan should be sent to the PICU just to be watched.

Nathan's tonsillectomy and appendectomy didn't go as planned. He was in that less than 1% of children group who don't tolerate that surgery. Yet, he always made sure we knew what was going on. We felt we were an equal team member with him in our son's care. Not a lot of doctors treat you that way.

At Nathan's 4 week check up he was a totally different little boy. Dr. Park walked in the room and without saying hi said, "I think you and your husband are the only parents that I've met that didn't flip out when your son had a code blue called on him." I smiled and replied that it certainly wasn't the first time and I'm sure its not going to be the last.

Dr. Park is such a sweet man with a good heart. He is an EXCELLENT children's doctor. We were very fortunate that he was on call when Nathan was transferred to Primary's. He has made a huge difference to Nathan.

Elisabeth's First Swimming Lessons

This summer Elisabeth took her first swimming lessons at the Spanish Fork pool with Kayden. She absolutely loved it! She is a little fish in the making and was very proud of her certificate of completion. Even as I write this, its still hanging on our fridge 2 months after the fact and she shows it off every chance that she gets. She knows that she had to work hard to earn it and it was good to recognize her little accomplishment.

She can hardly wait for next summer!

56 Pushups and 150 Sit Ups

Can really make a person TIRED!

(But I couldn't do that 8 weeks ago!)