Thursday, January 08, 2009

Christmas

We hope that everyone had a great Christmas! We sure did. Aaron's mom and sisters, Julia, Kathy, and Janae came down to spend Christmas with us. So did my mom and dad and Kat. It was really nice.

We also got to talk to my brother, Russell, who is serving a mission in Las Vegas. It was great to talk to him and he seems to be doing quite well. We miss him, though!

Just for kicks, here are a few Christmas pictures.

This is our little family with Santa at our church Christmas Party. We go to church with a man who is a professional Santa. Real beard, real hair. He is a really nice guy (he is the seminary teacher). I love the boys reactions to him. This is Emma surrounded by all of her Christmas loot. She also got a Barbie Jeep that she drives around out in the yard. She had a great Christmas, and I think that Aaron and I rediscovered the joy of Christmas this year. Ah, the joys of being a parent! Emma has become quite the photographer. Here is a self portrait. As some (or most) of you know, William had surgery on the 12 of December. The surgery was to correct a problem with his urethra. It was something that he was born with. I have known that this surgery was to take place since he was born, but it was still a little scary. The week of his surgery, Aaron was traveling with work, Emma came down with the flu, Christmas was nearing and our anniversary was coming up. Add all that to the deep down fears I had about the surgery, and I was, quite frankly, frazzled. None of my kids have ever had a surgery before, and William had to go under general anesthesia. Talk about tugging on my heart strings! I did (somehow) manage to remain positive through that week. We made it through William's surgery with minimal crying on my part (it hurts to watch someone else walk away with your baby into the "unknown"). He was so good! He had a catheter for a week, which was interesting, but he is doing great now! I am thankful that everything went well. (These are William's leg bands. The smaller one is the one I took off him when he came home from the NICU at less than five pounds. The larger one is from the day of his surgery. See how much he has grown?)

I am taking the boys to a doctor's appointment this afternoon so I will have an update on them a little later.

9 comments:

Julee said...

What a great Christmas!

I'm so glad William's surgery went well. My heart just ached as I read about you looking on helplessly as they wheeled him off to surgery. Glad he's back home safe and sound in your arms.

Lexie said...

I cannot believe it has already been a year since you guys moved! Thanks for keeping all of us here in Utah updated on your fun lives! Your family is so cute...I just wish you lived closer!

Kristine said...

Wow! He's grown a lot! I love the pic with Santa. The boys are getting so big! Emma's as cute as ever! Glad it all went well.

Jenny said...

Sounds like you all had a wonderful Christmas with family! Christmas with little ones make it so much more enjoyable. I love it!

I am sorry about your little one having surgery. Any time they have to put little children to sleep it is scary.

Reading you blog and seeing those tiny arm bands reminds me so much of my girls. Brings back bitter sweet memories. I think once you have had a child in the NICU you have this bond with all those other NICU families. You have a soft spot for their little ones.

The Walkers said...

I'm glad William's surgery went well! It looks like you guys had a great Christmas. I can only imagine Emma driving around in her Barbie Jeep. Oh, I finally updated by blog. Check it out.

Ashley Barnes said...

I'm glad William's surgery went well. Did he have hypospadius? Ian had it too and had surgery at 6 months old. I was sooo scared, but it actually didn't take long and went well. Have you taken the bandage off yet? They had us do it at home and it was awful. That was the worst part!

Tammy Engebretsen said...

I love the Santa picture!! So glad to see you are all doing so well. I love how you expose Emma to so many extreme sports, your next girl might not be so willing to try all those scary things that Emma does. So go for it!! And besides she needs to have a lot of guts in this scary world. You guys are great. Love you tons. oxoxo

Ashley Barnes said...

Thank you so much! We are excited... I am worried about taking care of 2 now, but I can't imagine how overwhelmed you were knowing you were going to have twin boys!! It looks like you are doing a great job though and you have a beautiful family!

The Walkers said...

I hadn't heard that William had to have surgery. I'm glad that it went well. When Scott was about 18 months old he had to have tubes put in his ears. I remember that same feeling of helplessness as they wheeled him away. I just couldn't understand why I couldn't be in the operating room with him! Love ya, Sandra