10 MONTHS

Weight: 16lbs 8oz

Length: 26 1/2 inches

Dear Andrew...
You melt my heart with your smile. You are such an easy going baby as we rush off to therapy twice a week and don't get in good naps those days. You're always willing to work hard at therapy and you always seem to light up the room with that smile.

You've started loving your tummy and play all the time there these days. Reaching for toys and turning to find them. You continue to get stronger and stronger and amaze us all. We are so proud of you!
You are a good little sleeper. But it's funny how you get yourself to sleep these days. For a little boy who was on oxygen for a month and a half after coming home from the hospital and then on the monitors for another three months after that, you sure like to keep your face covered.

A new favorite game you LOVE to play is peek-a-boo and you are the tickleish little baby I've ever known. You sometimes get in silly moods. Which is hilarious. Your dad and I love to hear you laugh.

You continue to be a rock star at eating solids foods. Bottles were such a struggle and sometimes still are hard for you. You definitely prefer eating from a spoon these days. You'll gobble up anything and everything, although I would say that peas are not your favorite, as I seem to come away wearing them each time you try them. I'm so glad to see that finally there is something in the area of eating that you can be successful at. We're now just working on taking different textures and introducing the sippy cup to you. I couldn't believe my eyes when your feeding therapist suggested that. What a big boy you are!

We love you so much Andrew!

Monday of all Mondays

It was just one of those days.
Really no excuses.
My Monday's are usually busy, but this Monday...we had a few extra things on the calendar.
Our morning started out as most mornings do around our house. Andrew (a.k.a. our alarm clock) was up at his usual 6:00 am, took a bottle and we went about his morning routines. Then down for his morning nap around 8am, so he can catch an hour or so of sleep before we head out the door to his therapy appointment. I got him all packed up and in the car. We were actually on time and ready to go. I start the car and realize that the combination of recent snow storms, salty roads, bad windshield wipers and no wiper fluid was a bad combo to drive the 30 minutes each way to and from the appointment. So as a quick fix, I decide to hop out and grab an old rag and windex. Surely this will help and we can make it safely to our destination. As I go to get back in the car, my heart drops....really? I didn't...oh my goodness...I did.

The car is running and all the doors are LOCKED! There was Andrew happy as can be and thank goodness oblivious to the whole situation. We of course only had one other set of keys to the car and they were with Stephen at work. I quickly rushed to the phone to see if he could rescue us. Thankfully he wasn't in a meeting and could get away. How grateful I am his work is only 15 minutes away from our house. Those were some long, helpless 15 minutes. All I could do was pace around the car helplessly and play a little peek-a-boo to keep Andrew happy.
Frazzled that I had just locked my baby in the car and now no longer on time. I kissed Stephen goodbye and headed out. As soon as I got on the interstate, I looked down and saw that the gas needle was pointing directly at empty. Uuuggghhh! I didn't have time for this! Knowing that Andrew's therapy was about 20 miles away, I knew I could make it there, but would need to fill up before heading home.

After therapy we found a gas station close by. I grab the diaper bag and search for my wallet. It was nowhere to be found and I realize it's sitting at home upstairs on our desk. Once again I called Stephen. "How far can I go when the gas light is on empty?". His reply..."oh Emily". I could just see the look on his face by the tone in his voice. I had no choice. I surely didn't want to run out of gas along the freeway. I also was hoping I wouldn't have to call Stephen again needing another rescue, because he had meetings scheduled for all afternoon. With a little prayer in my heart I started out for home and luckily we made it home safe and sound.

To top it all off, that evening we were having some friends over for dinner and a little FHE. Rushing to get dinner ready with a baby who's whining and really needing to be entertained. I sliced my finger open pretty badly cutting up some chicken. Ouch! Then, as we were waiting for everybody to come, one of our called friends us with car trouble and was stranded about a mile away from our home. Poor thing she was so frazzled and didn't know what to do. I felt terrible and had to get her car towed. Once again Stephen to the rescue!

I was soooo glad to get to bed that night. What a day! Lessons learned... 1. Never take a full tank of gas for granted. There is a feeling of safety and security by having a car full of gas. Never let it get down to empty!!!
2. Always turn your car off and take the keys with you when you get out. Just incase it has automatic locks. It will save you more time in the end.

Five Years

Five Years
I say it out loud and really can't believe it.
Stephen and I just celebrated our 5th Anniversary last week. We were lucky enough to have some wonderful friends watch Andrew for an evening, so we could get out and celebrate a bit. It was so nice to have an evening just to ourselves and we realized that we need to do that more often. Yet, we  had to laugh that even though we were by ourselves, it was hard not to have every conversation revolve around Andrew.

We certainly have been through so much together these last five years and I wouldn't have wanted anybody else by my side. Here's to many more happy years!

January 13th, 2007

May 2008

July 2009

February 2010

June 2011

Starting the Year off Right

What a week it's been....Can I just say that again? What an incredibly emotional, busy, not-enough-time in the day, exciting turn of events, want to hold and kiss my baby kind of week it's been!
Let me back up just a bit. I love this time of year...reflecting on the old and looking forward to the new a fresh start and outlook on life. Last year was quite the year in our family. One we will continue to learn from the rest of our lives, as we look back and reflect upon the things that happened in our family. The year 2011 will always be ingrained in my heart. But I will honestly say, after the holidays I was ready for the new year and positive that great things will come in 2012.

This week started out...just like any other. It was nice to have Stephen home for the new years holiday on Monday and we worked like mad to get all of Christmas decorations down and packed away and the house cleaned. I was looking forward to a long-awaited trip to see my family and hopping on an airplane later this week to go and visit. We squeezed in Andrew's therapy appointments, knowing that we'd be gone and missing a few times. Then Wednesday morning came. Andrew woke up after sleeping through the entire night. (Something I'd been waiting for, for a very long time). After his morning feeding, he was throwing up and very drowsy. What wonderful timing, I was hoping to finish up the laundry and pack the suitcases. But my little boy was sick...or so I thought.
All of the signs and symptoms of having the flu are the same signs and symptoms of a shunt malfunction. So after throwing up again and having no fever, I got on the phone called the dr. This little boy would only sleep if he was in my arms and then even when he was awake he was not himself. We rushed right into the dr.'s office and after her exam she called his neurosurgeon. She immediately sent us to the hospital. So Stephen got off work and met me and we drove downtown Chicago to the children's hospital. They got us right in and did all sorts of CT scans and X-ray's. After an hour in the emergency room his neurosurgeon (who just happened to be the doctor on call--thank goodness) came to talk to us. She had looked at all of his images and knew that surgery was an emergency. Within minutes he had an IV and we were being wheeled up to the OR and met with the Anesthesiologist. Most shunts typically last 2-3 years, Andrews however decided 7 months was good enough. We knew we'd be making out insurance deductible every year for the next few years, but January 4th? Really? We went three whole days? Stephen and I just have to laugh. How GRATEFUL we are for insurances.

Waiting in the Emergency Room with a sick little boy

Wheeling us up to the operating room

Waiting in the empty parent room that night at 11:00pm, those where the longest two hours.  But as I sat there, I reflected on the last few days or weeks and wondered how long this shunt had not worked.  All that pressure in his head made sense. He has been more whiny than usual and the previous day during OT his therapist pointed out how he wasn't really using his left side as much and turning his hand the wrong way to grab things. Stephen noticed the same after work.  All the little pieces to the puzzle seemed to come together. How grateful I was that I didn't hesitate a bit in taking him into the doctor and that she sent us to the hospital to get everything checked out. Also, I am so grateful that his neurosurgeon was the doctor on call. She knows his background and has been a key support in getting all of his doctors and therapist set up out here in Chicago. Had we gotten on a plane and flown to Utah, who knows what would haven happened. Yes, I am sad that we had to cancel our trip to Utah and am very anxious to get out there soon.

Andrew right after surgery...a little drugged up on Morphine

Andrew is doing incredibly well. Back to his happy little self. What an amazing difference it made. They sent us home the next day less then 24 hours after the surgery. Stephen and I are playing nurse trying to keep his stitches covered, clean and little hands away until his incisions are healed.

Stephen has more of a stomach then I do and is willing to help take the bandages off for the first time. THANKS Daddy! 

Hopefully 2012 can be less eventful in our family.  So what a way to ring in the new year. huh?  Life is full of lots of unknown surprises! Happy New Year!

Our Holiday Happenings

We had a great Christmas holiday! Can't believe how fast it came and went. It was full of lots of late nights, delicious food, surprises, games games and more games, treats galore, lots of laughter, anticipation of gift giving and most of all lots and lots of wonderful family time. 

Stephen's sister and her husband deserve a medal of honor for hosting Christmas this year. They had quite the houseful and were wonderful hosts. We had Stephen's entire family, except Jeremy & Ashley and their two kiddos whom we missed. But that being said...that's a total of 10 adults and 4 grandkids....plus Stephen's Aunt Janet, Aunt PJ and Uncle Chuck who flew in from Texas and spent a few days.....oh and then his Uncle Don & Aunt Deana and cousin Valerie drove up from Ohio and spent some time with everyone. Needless to say we had a houseful, but it was SO much fun to be together as family. And yup that's my favorite part about Christmas. Being with Family. 

Hopefully I won't bore you with too many details. But here's a few of the highlights.

Opening our Stockings early before church. Santa brought Andrew lots of baby food, yet he is clearly more interested in the wrapping paper. Much more exciting of course!

I simply love it when Christmas lands on a Sunday. It truly helps me focus on the true meaning of Christmas and reflect on my Saviors life. (It also helps that we only had one hour of church too!) After opening our stockings and then rushing to get out the door for church, we left all the gifts under the tree to be opened after.

Andrew looking pretty tired after church before we dived into all of the presents

Enjoying opening our presents while Andrew was taking his nap.

Stephen was pretty excited about his radio control airplane kit. He now just has to build it and is excited to have a fun project to keep him busy.

Andrew opening his gifts after his long nap!

Cousin Austin showing Andrew how to play with his new toy from Santa

Uncle Don with Andrew and I

Andrew got to meet lots of Stephen's Aunts and Uncles for the first time and me as well. It was great to hang out and get to know them. Wish we lived closer and could see them more often.

Stephen's sister Meghan is super crafty. She taught us how to make these really neat ornaments with glitter. I had someone tell me about this idea to make a memento of Andrew's first Christmas and wanted to try it. She was so sweet to help me. We embossed Andrew's hand print on the outside of the ornament. I loved how it turned out.

Stephen and His mom watching the boys while Ice Skating

Grandpa and Erin helping Benny learn to ice skate.

Austin Helping the Andrew to be Happy

I think these two are going to be great friends. Cute little Austin was such a good helper around baby Andrew. I loved seeing them interact.

Singing around the piano

James decided to surprise us and drive 20 plus hours from Utah to be able to spend Christmas with the family. He was 'supposed' to work on Christmas Eve and after Christmas. Well he found a new job and his schedule suddenly 'cleared up'.  We all couldn't believe our eyes when he walked through the door late on Christmas Eve. What a fun Christmas surprise!

Grandma Holden getting some Andrew hugs before they head back to Michigan

Christmas is Coming!!!

We've been super excited with Christmas just around the corner! It's been so fun to get ready with a baby this year. Here's just a few of the holiday festivities we've enjoyed this month at the Holden home.

Christmas Lights. The lights on the Christmas tree have caught Andrew's eye. He loves looking at them! It will be sad to take this entertainment down in a week or so.

Earlier this month we met up with my cousin Andrea and her darling little family when they were visiting Chicago from Iowa. We met downtown at the Lincoln Park Zoo and walked around the zoo lights! I was amazed at the how decked out the zoo was. Lights were everywhere, some synchronized to music and all surrounded by animals. Andrew's eyes got so big when he heard the loud lion's roar. We even got to watch them carve an ice sculpture. This week, Stephen and I also found some lights close by in a park that we were able to walk through! Simply said....I LOVE Christmas lights!

Santa. We had a fun time at our ward Christmas party. Where we ate a yummy breakfast, sang Christmas carols, and enjoyed some great company. Andrew even got to meet Santa and sit on his lap for the very first time!

I love how he's intently looking at Santa...wondering who the crazy man in the big read suit is? Unlike the other kids, Andrew wasn't afraid of Mrs. or Mrs. Claus. We might not be so lucky next year!

Christmas Candy. This year I decided to make some yummy candy. Growing up my mom always made homemade candy around Christmas time. A tradition I'd love to start around our house. It was a lot of fun dipping chocolates and wrapping caramels and sharing the goodies with friends and neighbors.

Presents. Andrew is starting to reach for toys while on his tummy and back. You might occasionally find him trying so hard he's rolled over a time or two. He's found that Christmas presents are also fun to reach for and play with!

Tomorrow morning we'll be packing up the car and spending the week with Stephen's family. Everyone is heading to his sister's house just a few hours away from us. We can't wait to join them and have been counting down the days!
Merry Christmas!!!

All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth

Well...even just one tooth would be nice. At this point I'll take ANYTHING!!! Andrew sure hasn't been the happy baby he once was and I'm blaming it all on teething...(hoping its just a phase and my happy boy will soon return) Naps are sometimes non-existent, everything is in the mouth, drooling all over the place and I can't seem to set him down for a minute or two and he's in tears. A little white tooth poking through his swollen gums is secretly on my wish list for Christmas this year. We'll see if we get a tooth by the holiday or not. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

A Sad Little Boy

On another note we've had more doctor's visits this week....surprise, surprise. :) His speech/feeding therapist did another observation and looked at how he was doing with his oral motor abilities and gag reflexes. Everything looked normal so before I knew it, she slipped out of her office and was back with a little bowl of rice cereal and a spoon for him to try. Before she started, she explained the sometimes long process of transitioning to solids and helping kids who struggle with feeding. She emphasized, that we should just expect the first month or so of feeding solids as play time and not to expect him to eat anything. Just expose him to a spoon in the mouth and trying things to strengthen his tongue muscle. After a few tries, Andrew was opening his mouth so wide and it seemed as if he couldn't get enough. The therapist couldn't believe how he "just got it" and was doing everything he was supposed to. After seeing that, she gave me a few handouts and dove right in to explaining the next few months of feeding solids and how to best help him. YEA!!! We were so excited we pulled his high chair out, set it up and couldn't wait to try it at home!

What a BIG boy in his high chair

Daddy is doing a great job!

That's a smile underneath that messy face :)

A whole new phase awaits us. I guess those baby spoons and bowls wrapped and under the Christmas tree need to be opened pretty quick! 'Cause we're gonna need them sooner than we thought!

Exciting News

I just have to quickly share some exciting news!!!

In February, my parents...

Will be spending the next 18 months half way across the world...

Serving as Missionaries for our church. They have been called to serve in the Alpine, German Speaking Mission.  Which covers areas of Southern Germany,  most of Switzerland, Austria, and the little country of Liechtenstein.

They will be primarily working with the young single adults in that area. We are so thrilled for them! They have been looking forward to serving a mission for a very long time. What is even more exciting is that when my dad was 19 he spent 2 1/2 years serving and teaching the people of Austria. He'll have to brush up on his German and my mom will have to learn the basics. It will be such a neat opportunity for him to go back with my mom and serve together.

Our entire family has been anxiously waiting to know where they would serve. We got a call on Wednesday night and were able to skype with all of my siblings as they opened their call. All of the grandkids are very excited for them. What examples they are to me.

Favorite Pictures

I finally uploaded the camera with some darling pictures of our little tiger. Andrew continues to grow like a weed. Yesterday at the doctor, he finally made it on to the regular growth charts for kids who are the same age. (and that's saying a lot)  Since we have some type of dr. appointment almost weekly. He's now weighing in at 15lbs 6 oz.

Here's a few of my new favorite pictures...thought you might enjoy.

Andrew sporting his cougar attire. I must admit I was out numbered for the BYU vs USU B-Ball game back in November, but in the end I will say I taught Andrew the Aggie fight song after their win.

 

I was doing a little tummy time after changing his diaper and caught him really studying this picture of Ethan we have on his dresser. 

LOVE it!

Andrew just loves bath time. He loves to kick and slash and his favorite toy in the tub, is of course the washcloth, which goes straight for the mouth.

Stephen and I have both decided that we really don't need much this year for Christmas. We've been given the greatest news about our little boy. But let me rewind a bit so you can understand where we are coming from. Back in May, we met with a neurologist about both of our boys and their prognosis with all the neurological issues they both were facing. In Andrew's case he was in the middle of fighting all the nasty infections, on top of his meningitis, hydrocephalus, still on the ventilator... let's just say our conversation was pretty grim. With him being virtually a lifeless little 3 lb baby in an incubator, the neurologist painted our future with our son saying that "best case scenario...he might recognize you as his parents, and possibly might be able to get himself around in a wheelchair someday. That is if he can breath and eat on his own, but with Andrew's history and MRI's. Who knows?" These words have really echoed in our hearts the last 7 months. Always hoping for the best, not ever knowing what the future would hold for our family and for our little boy.  We've known that he's exceeded all these expectations being able to breathe and eat on his own,  as well as smile. These everyday things for most babies, were huge in our eyes. Well, last week the neurologist here in Chicago was very surprised at the progress Andrew has been making and all the milestone he's reached given his medical history. He is right on for his adjusted age (5 mo) with visual tracking and fine motor. He told us that there is no reason he shouldn't keep progressing and possibly even walk some day.  As for when....that's a tougher question to answer....who knows it could take a very long time and it will take a lot of work and therapy.  But he has filled us with so much hope. Truly an answer to many many prayers and the many priesthood blessings. I cried the entire way home from the doctor. We have so much to be thankful for.

Finally Finished

I never got to put together a nursery before the boys were born. So since we've been here in Chicago, I've slowly been putting together and decorating Andrew's room. A little here and a little there. I really enjoy doing stuff like this. Not the best at it, but I do enjoy it. Now it's finished and I'm glad to have it finally done! Just thought I'd share a few pictures.

I fell in love with this cute elephant theme. After I put it up in his room, I love it even more! Since we're just renting this place, we couldn't do much with paint. So I decided to sew my own curtain since his room gets the evening sun. (Whenever it's not hiding behind the clouds, which is about...oh...90% of the time these days.) The curtains were way easy and fun to make. I think they turned out great and are far better than anything I could have bought.

These two teddy bears have a special place in our hearts. They were given to our boys in the hospital by their cousins, when we knew that we'd be saying good bye to Ethan.  After that, Andrew has slept with the bears watching over him  each night in his crib.

After Ethan passed, we were given some beautiful pictures of Christ with children. I love having this one in Andrew's room along with the"Child of God" sign. We look at it often with it being above his changing pad and sing "I am a child of God." It's his favorite...and mine too!

I love the way this turned out. We received this saying just after Ethan passed. I wasn't quite sure how to display it. After lots of brainstorming, I decided to put it with the first picture or ultrasound we had of our boys together and the last picture of them together. After we took Ethan off the ventilator, he was able to breath on his own for a good 3-4 hours. It wasn't until just after we walked him down the hall to Andrew's bedside and laid him next to his brother in the crib, that he was ready to say goodbye and take his last breath.  I will certainly treasure this picture which captured the last moments they had together on this earth. I'm also very thankful for the darling nurses who just took our camera and snapped away.

Chicago Express

 We live about 5 minutes from the big Sears Center Arena. We drive by all the time and sometimes have to get re-routed, because of the event traffic.  Because we live right in the same city as the Sears Center, we get special deals and discounts. This facility holds a number of different events and this time of year it's HOCKEY season in Chicagoland.  So we decided to take advantage and get some good deals on some hockey tickets.

I'm surprised at how big of a sport this is out here. It was a lot of fun and we had awesome seats on the 4th row to cheer on the Chicago Express. Some people might call us crazy that we'd take a little 7 month old baby to the game, but we had a great night out as a whole family. Andrew did amazingly wonderful, considering it was in the evening and during his bed time. He enjoyed watching the players and didn't even cry or get scared when they scored a goal and all the big sirens went off. We sure had a lot of fun!

Andrew's First Laugh

So we just have to share this...

As we were waiting in the lobby for our car to be worked on this weekend, we got some cute little laughs out of our big boy.  Stephen quickly pulled his phone out and was able to catch just a little bit before he got tired. We've decided we have one ticklish boy! Enjoy.

Our Halloween

It was so fun to celebrate Halloween this year....even though I know that Andrew had absolutely no idea what was happening nor will he remember a single thing that we did. But none the less, we celebrated lots and I definitely got into the Halloween spirit. In the past,  I'd blame the "little kid" in me on being around my school kids each and every day and their excitement would rub off on me.  But this year, I didn't have that excuse. I guess I'm just a kid at heart. Thank goodness Stephen is such a good sport and puts up with me and my big ideas.

We  had lots of fun coming up with our costumes and had a few different Halloween parties that we dressed up for. 

Here is our puppy Toto

 I just have to laugh at this picture. His face says it all...."Why in the world are you dressing me up in this??? Oh PLEASE mom, no more pictures!!!"

 Along with Dorthy and the Tin Man.

Although we didn't go trick-or-treating on Halloween night, we had our traditional yummy white chicken chili and breadsticks and carved pumpkins.
Then we decided to kicked back, relax and watch a few scary movies as we waited for trick-or-treaters to come knocking. In the meantime, I got scared out of my wits and we ate way too much candy. After the first movie, I was a bit...well...I'll admit...scared to go to bed. So, I told Stephen we needed to watch something else to get my mind off of it. So out of the kindness of his heart, Stephen put on and watched Twilight with me. Not that I'm a huge Twilight fan. In fact, I think we laughed more at the cheesy-ness than anything else. But it certainly got my mind off the first movie. Before we new it, it was way too late and we hadn't gotten a single trick-or-treater.
The next day we definitely had a Halloween hang-over.  Guess it was bound to happen. We had a wonderful weekend full of the all the Halloween festivities.