Fundoplication

Mitchell's surgery is scheduled for this FRIDAY! This will stop his reflux and hopefully help keep us out of the hospital in the future. We're going back to the hospital for 3 -10 days. Wish us luck! (and lots of blessings).

Hospital Stay

We're finally home after being in the hospital for almost 2 weeks!!! Does it look like I'm ready to go home?

Sweet baby Mitchell got pneumonia for the second time this year. Poor baby.

This is what everyone else was doing while we were in the hospital...

I must give a special thanks to my in-laws, Jim and Lenora, for dropping everything the second we called, and driving up to stay with our kids and to help us out at the hospital. It never would have gone so smoothly with out them there.

I had some wonderful amazing experiences with Mitchell. As I was sitting with him, doing nothing but caring for HIM, I thought how lucky I was to be able to have 10 days (this was on day 10) where all I do is think about, care for, and love Mitchell. Who gets that kind of opportunity with their two year old??? I never got that with my other kids...(AND I never got that with Mitchell as a newborn!) I had him all to myself, didn't have ANYTHING else to do, and I knew that my other kids were being loved and cared for by their grandparents.

Jake told me how Mitchell is our "direct ticket to the Celestial Kingdom," so why wouldn't we want him around us all the time to help us get back home? We need to hold tight to him, and appreciate every chance he gives us to draw closer to our Heavenly Father. I also realized that our life with Mitchell is going to be full of trips to the hospital where we continually wonder when he his going to head home with out us. He is such a sweet, special baby that I feel so lucky to call mine. It won't be easy, but nothing of value is, right?

We were so grateful this wasn't Mitchell's time to go, and that we have him around for a little bit longer. What a special miracle Mitchell is. We are so thankful to a Heavenly Father to has given us this precious little boy.

Finally, Jake texted me this quote from our speaker on Sunday.

"Sometimes we think that life is just not fair, or this is not what we thought our lives would be like. And that's OK. It is through those circumstances that we come to know our Savior."

I think that describes our feelings as parents exactly! Life isn't fair, it's not what we wanted or planned, but really that's the only way we will get to know and become like our Savior. We all have something in our lives we didn't plan, or want but our Heavenly Father knows what we need, and He is there helping us along.

Is it working?

Jansen left this for me to find... We're on day five without diapers. Wish me luck.

Poor Baby

We've been back to watching this...Mitchell wasn't breathing well, so I finally took him in and thinking it was just a little congestion, but no... it's pneumonia, along with 2 ear infections (despite having ear tubes.)
Our poor little Mitchy can't buy a break. He can't seem to stay healthy. Well... 2010 he did NOT stay at the hospital over night ONCE.
Reesa was such a trooper. She missed her school field trip to go to the hospital with Mitchy and me. So today I finally broke down and got her a pillow pet from Mitchell to say thanks!!!

They gave Mitchell a bunch of steroids, antibiotics, breathing treatments and put him on Oxygen. He's doing so much better. They gave us lots of meds to come home with and Mitchell came home this afternoon on room air! We're so lucky really that this happened over the weekend when Jake wasn't working and that Jennifer, (bless her heart) drove all the way down to Fresno to pick up Reesa (and brought me a bag of goodies and books) and took Reesa and Jansen for the day. Thanks, we love you guys!

P.S. I don't even want to admit this, but I made Jake come down and stay the night with Mitchell and I went home to be with #1 & #2. I was SO irritated by everything every nurse, doctor, assistant, secretary said to me I couldn't stand it anymore! Today, Jake told me how he refused treatments when Mitchell was asleep, told them no to IV antibiotics, since we can NEVER get an IV on that kid. (I tried to say no, but my Dr. said they had to at least try 3 times. WHAT!?! see why I was irritated?) I was so grateful for an amazingly smart husband who knows way too much, about things he has no business knowing, and fights for our kids! Thanks Jake!

DISNEYLAND!

We are so lucky to be able to visit Disneyland this year. Through Jansen's therapy we got tickets for $35 each. (Reg. $76). The best part... we forgot our tickets! We had to drive back and take a 5 hour detour. It was murder. BUT, instead of going to Jake's parents that night, we called Disney and got a hotel right across the street. So arrived @ 2 a.m. we slept in a little and didn't have to fight traffic in the morning. What a blessing, right!

The kids knew what Disney was this year, and Jansen started yelling "Oh Toodles" as soon as she saw the sign. (from Mickey Mouse Club House)

I loved bringing our kids there! It was so fun to see how excited they were to see every single thing! I had a million pictures of Jansen pointing to things.

And yes, we did get to wear our matching shirts again.

Dumbo, Jansen's favorite ride.

Jake's parent's were great sports and came along to help us out. There is NO WAY we could have done it with out them. I don't know what I was thinking. Thanks for coming.

The Tiki room

Reesa L_O_V_E_D the princesses. So magical. AND Jansen actually ran to each princess and hugged them.

Are you wondering what Mitchell did? ha ha, I wish he was this easy.

I took a zillion pictures of Reesa but this is almost the only one with a smile. Even Mitchell liked Small world.

The castle.

The fireworks were one of the best parts. Jansen yelled "wow" after every single one. And when there was a boom he yelled"ahh!" We were all laughing. The lady standing next to me told me Jansen made every penny we spent worth it. Then she added he made her's worth it too.

P.S. If you're going anytime soon, it was HOT. People were in shorts and tank tops. I had to borrow sunscreen from some random lady to protect Mitchell. It's only JANUARY!

Geyer Grandparents visit

I know, I really do. There are more pictures than ANYONE would like to see of my kids. But they are just too cute to pass up.

Grandma and Grandpa Geyer came to visit for the weekend, and brought Stuart along too. Here's a brief summary the stuff we tried to cram in.

Playing with Mitchell.

Reesa learning to put on her own make-up (it's all over her nose)

Jake made his famous waffles for everyone

Are you wondering how Mitchell's eating in his new chair?

Like a CHAMP! He's loving it! and so are we. Doesn't he just look like a normal little boy?

We drove up to Yosemite and went sledding in the snow.

They had perfect little hills to sled on. Everybody gave it a try.

Jake packed some hot chocolate, which was a hit! Especially with Jansen.

Grandma even gave sledding a try.

Jake packed a tarp, several blankets, and Mitchell's favorite toy. Last time we played in the snow, Mitch was miserable. This time we came prepared and he LOVED it!

Snapped a shot of Mitchell's view from the ground. Isn't is gorgeous there?

Grandpa being a good sport using his new smile for the zillionth time.

snow ball fight

Can you believe we built this HUGE snowman?

We didn't, but Reesa didn't know the difference!!! They dressed frosty up, and thought Grandpa was king!

Here's the gang

Thanks for coming, (and for all the pictures grandpa!) I've found with 3 kids, I can't add a camera to the list of things to remember, and was so grateful grandpa brought his camera and took so many pictures for us!!!

Acorn wreath

So I did it. Here's my version of a Valentine's Day acorn wreath. Got the idea here, thanks LR. So easy and fun to make.

Have your kids gather a zillion acorns in my yard, bake 'em for 15 min. @ 350 to kill any bugs, hot glue them to a straw wreath. Spray paint the color of your choice (pink for V-day). It looks much better than this picture taken with my phone. I totally could have bought this at Pottery Barn.