Siblings

I can't express how blessed we've been that Colby and Riann have hit it off since day one. It is so much fun to watch Colby follow Riann and to have Riann play and show concern for Colby. Anytime Colby is laying on the floor and Riann walks into the room he is instantly fixated on her. He follows her every movement and lights up whenever she is around. Riann loves to get down on the floor and show Colby how to play with his toys and help with diaper changes and picking out his clothes. She loves to talk to him and gets very concerned when he cries. She also loves checking on him while he's sleeping and loves to wake him up whenever we're not watching. Her new favorite game is pushing Colby in his walker around the front room and even tries to sneak him back into her bedroom so that she can read to him. Colby likes to sit in his walker most of the time but LOVES it when Riann is willing to push him around and help him spin his toys. Riann also loves to introduce everyone to Colby. I doesn't matter where we are she always announces to everyone who says "hello" to her that "this is my brother Colby!!!"

I love watching these kids together. I pray that they will always be close. I know that there will be a time when all they do is fight and I know that as Colby gets older and is more interested in Riann's toys that time is coming sooner than I would like to think. But for now I'm happy to just enjoy how much they love each other. I am amazed at how much you can see it on their faces.

Here are a few fun pictures of them together over the last little bit. Can't wait for the many fun pictures we'll get over this summer!!!

Riann and Colby together for our first attempt at "Christmas Pictures". Riann loved holding Colby at the very beginning. He was pretty happy to just be held in the beginning. Even if it was a little uncomfortable.

Riann and Colby dressed up on Colby's blessing day. Riann was such a sport that day. She was a little unhappy after church but was very kind to me and patiently posed for pictures.

Riann and Colby playing together at Grandma and Grandpa Vreeken's house.

I have a few more pictures on our Mac that I will get together and add soon. I love these kids!!!

Solids

We've been working with Colby on solids for the last few weeks. He's been getting better and better at eating off a spoon but still makes a bigger mess than he eats. I had forgotten that feeding a diapered baby was MUCH cleaner than a clothed baby. As you can see from the pictures below his first time was a messy one.

We started at the beginning of the month, about a week or two after he hit 4 months. The first time we fed him cereal he slept for 8 hours straight that night. It was a great night!! We haven't gotten as lucky the last few times he's had cereal but I can tell a difference on the days he eats it. He seems to like the Oatmeal cereal better than the Rice cereal but the Oatmeal seems to make him gassy and a little bit cranky. He is a VERY hands on kid so often it's a struggle to keep his hands out of the way in order to get the food into his mouth. I think if he could hold the spoon and do it all himself already he'd be really happy.

I love seeing him sit up in his highchair. It's fun to see him change and get older each day. I'm sad that he's growing up so fast but he's such a fun baby and the older he gets and the more he interacts with me, the more I get excited for him to do more. I think I notice his changes more than I did with Riann because I know what I'm watching for. It's amazing how fast these kids grow up.

Riann amazes me everyday when we have a full conversation about real life things. I'm excited for Colby to grow so I can hear what he sounds like. He's a very talkative kid now and I have to laugh every day at the many stories he tries to tell. I wish I could understand his grunts and happy screams because he'll talk and talk for hours. He's great at making "O" sounds too. I think that is my most favorite thing right now. He makes the best O shape with his mouth. I haven't been able to catch it on camera yet but as soon as I do I'll get it up.

I love my kids so much and love watching them grow. They are so amazing and I know the Lord saved them for this special time in our world. They really are a chosen generation. I just hope I can help them grow up wise and strong.

Fun in the Snow

Riann has had a hard time this year being locked up inside when there seems to be perfectly good snow outside to play in. We've had a hard time explaining to her that the snow we've got now isn't actually any fun because it's all iced over. Well the other day I had put Colby down for a nap and wanted to go get the mail and she asked if she could go with me. "I thought why not? It would be a good idea to let her walk outside for a little bit to and from the mailbox." Neither of us had gotten ready for the day yet and I wasn't planning on her being out for very long so I had her put on her coat and didn't bother having her change the rest of her clothes.

Unfortunately I didn't account for the fact that Riann struggles to (or just flat out doesn't) listen and wouldn't be satisfied just going to the mailbox and back. By the time I was at the mailbox I noticed that she was no longer behind me and was actually out in the yard jumping on top of the snow. I just had to laugh because she was having such a great time. After watching her I split off into the house to drop off the mail and grab the camera. It was fun watching her get stuck in the snow because it was about three feet deep and when she would break through the top layer she would struggle to get out. At the very end she lost her shoe and I had to go save it. It was SO hard to get out to her and I actually lost my shoe at one point. We had a great time through.

I'm glad we spent a little bit of time out that day, even if we weren't dressed for it.

Birthday Cake

This year I made Riann's birthday cake. It was an interesting adventure. I've always wanted to try doing a fondant cake and after getting hooked on "The Cake Boss" from TLC I thought I could actually do it. They make it look SUPER easy and so I thought I'd give it a try. I got the idea from a friend of ours who posted a few pictures of their daughter's (who was also celebrating her 3rd birthday just after Riann) practice cake on Facebook. After seeing someone I knew make one I thought it was time to give it a shot. After asking for her recipe and some pointers we gave the Wilton Rolled Marshmellow Fondant recipe a try. I looked it over and though that it would be easy enough.

I tried to document how I put it all together but it's a really messy and the camera was getting hit hard from grease and powdered sugar so I didn't do as good taking pictures as I hoped. Through it all I think I did okay though.

The recipe is just four basic ingredients.

• 1 package (16 ounces) white mini marshmallows (use a good quality brand)
• 2-5 tablespoons water
• 2 pounds (about 8 cups) sifted confectioners' sugar
• 1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening
  

Once we got the "dough" together I added food coloring to it to get it looking like I wanted it. Riann asked for a blue cakes so I made the biggest chunk blue.



After doing my blue I sectioned off a few other chunks for different colors. I had a basic idea of what I was going for but I definitely could have planned this part better. I was a little thrown off when Riann asked for a blue cake so I did have a little bit of a slip up with some of the other colors I made. I accidentally made brown for one of the colors when I was going to pink and then tried to save it by going orange. As you can see from the pictures, I didn't end up successfully saving it and had to just toss it out. Once I got in the flow getting the colors together was a lot easier. It also got less and less messy as I figured out each color.


Once all of the fondant was colored I stored it in the fridge until after I got the cakes cooked later that night. The fondant is hard to work with when it's chilled so I microwaved it for a few seconds but I think I made it too soft because it tore very easily. For the "dirty icing" layer I made a strawberry cream cheese frosting. I didn't have time to let the cake cool as much as I would have liked to so I made the frosting thinner than I probably should have. After I layered each cake I put the cake in the freezer so that it would firm up. Then I rolled out my fondant and started decorating. I think with this trial I learned that I need to use less shortening and keep the fondant chilled when it comes to rolling it out for the cakes. Because it was so soft it stretched really well but it rolled too thin in a lot of places and where it wasn't tearing, it was thin enough that you could see the pink frosting underneath. I also found that I need to buy an actual cake stand. I had planned on doing a square cake under a circle cake but found that I didn't have a good way to set that up so I had to go with four round cakes to stack instead.



Here is what it looked like completed. Overall I think I did an okay job. For a first timer I feel like I learned a lot. I don't know how soon I'm going to rush out and do another one but knowing that I could it again if I needed to makes me happy.

Riann's Birthday

Our little girl has turned 3!!! We celebrated Riann's' birthday this year by doing a few fun little things. It was a hard year to plan for because I wanted to really try to do something age appropriate this year but also make it fun because she's really starting to get the idea of birthdays. We decided to keep things more low key than we've done in the past. On her actual birthday - the 10th - Riann, Colby and I ran out and got a few cupcakes and picked up a few presents for her to open that night. She was very excited to share her cupcakes with everyone. Paul was up on campus doing school stuff so we stopped by and dropped off a cupcake and lunch to him so he could wish Riann a happy birthday. After that we ran home and had a few cupcakes ourselves.

Riann enjoyed her's a lot. She really liked the blue frosting. We picked up two packages of cupcakes, one that had "How to Train Your Dragon" rings and a second with "Toy Story 3" rings on the top of each cup cake. After we had our treats everyone rested for a little bit. Thursdays are hard for us this semester because Paul has a very late class and I have to work. Both Paul and I have to be focused on our given tasks from 4pm - 10pm every Thursday. To help Riann celebrate her birthday, our good friends - and neighbors, Jake and Adele came by and took Riann out to play with their two girls at Arctic Circle. We sent off a few cupcakes with them and they had a great time. They met up with a few of our other neighbors for dinner and a chance to run around. We were surprised that night when Paul got out of classes early and got to come home and open one of Riann's presents with her. She got a few games for her birthday and the one she was the most excited about that night was Hungry Hungry Hippo's. She had seen me put it in the cart when we were buying them and was very excited when Paul made it home before she had to go to bed so she could play with him. It was really fun to watch them play together. She was so excited to have something she could do with us. She is really good at the game and beats me almost every time.

Later on both Friday and Saturday Riann got to open presents with her Grandparents on Skype (Friday with Grandma and Bradda Gomes and Saturday with Grandma and Papa Vreeken). We're really love being able to see them so often, even if it's just on the computer.

Saturday morning Paul, Riann and I got up and went outside to play in the snow while Colby was napping.

After playing in the snow Riann and I headed off to a hair appointment and Riann got her first REAL hair cut.

We went to Evan's Hairstyling College here in Rexburg. She seemed a little scared at the beginning but warmed up as soon as they offered her a sucker. Her stylist was great. She asked Riann lots of questions and had a flower at her station that Riann got to play with, that she absolutely loved. After her hair cut we shot off to The Craze Fun Zone in town. It's got a fun little play land on one end of the building that's perfect for the little kids.

We played there for an hour or two and then ran over to their dining area and had some cake. My favorite part of the whole day was when I lit the candles and Riann started signing to herself before anyone got a chance to think about starting the birthday song. I'm so bummed I didn't get it on tape.

This year tried fondant for the first time and made Riann's cake. It was a fun adventure which I will post about later. I'm really glad Riann was excited about it. After playing we all went home and went down for much needed naps.

It was a great weekend. I'm still amazed that Riann is already three. She teaches me so much every single day. She is such a smart little girl and keeps everyone on their toes. She can be a handful on her bad days but she is a blast on her good ones. Thankfully over the last little bit she's had many more good than bad. I've learned you have to have a camera handy when she's around because she's constantly doing silly stuff that always unique to her personality.

I'm so excited to see where the next years take her. She is such an amazing child and I'm so grateful for the blessing she is in our lives. Happy Birthday Babe!!! We love you!!!!

Colby's Surgery

Colby's name up on the board, just like on ER... ;-)

We started our day arriving at the hospital at 6am. We were checked in right away and then hung out and visited with the parents of other patients until about 7:30am when we met with the doctor and the anesthesiologist. After our short meeting and an overview of what we could expect, they took Colby in for surgery at about 8am. This was one of the HARDEST things I've ever had to do. We gave Colby to the anesthesiologist after walking down the hall with him, once we were there he turned to us and simply, but kindly, said, "this is as far as you go" and we handed Colby off to him right then and there. After meeting with the anesthesiologist I felt comfortable with him and knew that Colby was in good hands but it was hard passing my child off to someone who I had JUST met. This was the first set of tears shed that day. Thankfully it wasn't a long wait. We were taken to a waiting room where we sat with all of the other parents and family members waiting for the other children who were in surgery that day. We recognized a lot of the faces from people we had talked with earlier that day. It was hard watching doctors coming in and out talking to parents everywhere you turned. Each time a doctor walked in to update a family, you had to wonder when it would be your turn. I thought the wait would have felt like it was much longer but we had things to distract us like updating family, books, homework and Facebook. Thinking we had just sat down I checked the clock and was amazed that a half hour had already passed. We had been told that the surgery would last about 45 minutes so I was grateful that time was going by quickly. I was amazed that shortly after I checked the time our doctor was standing behind us, done with surgery, and ready to talk about how things went. It only took them about 30 minutes to complete everything. With the doctor we talked discussed what had happened and he gave us some pictures and video from the surgery. Everything went great. Our doctor explained that they did a full exam on his airways and we were only dealing with the Laryngomalacia and nothing more serious. The surgery only included cutting away the tiny bit of skin we expected. We were happy that everything looked good.

Pre-op, getting settled before they took him back.

Shortly after talking with Colby's doctor, I was sent into the post-op area to sit with Colby while he woke up and while they updated his recovery nurses before they sent us to the recovery floor. Around 930am Paul joined us as we walked up to our room. To help with the pain they gave Colby some Tylenol and some Morphine. They asked us to wait a full hour after surgery to feed him so that his swelling had a little time to go down. Unfortunately because he had been knocked out because of the Morphine we had to wait until about 4pm to feed him. It took him a while to sleep everything off but he was very eager to eat once he started to come too and that made me feel MUCH better. For the first little bit you could tell he was in a little pain. He struggled to cry and every now and then would have trouble swallowing. However, as more and more time passed he seemed to feel better and was getting back to his "normal" self.

Post-op, resting and getting back into the swing of things.

One of the things they had to monitor closely after surgery were his oxygen levels. Most kids with this surgery have to be placed on breathing tubes to help for the first little bit because the surgery is done at the top of the airway. Thankfully Colby was on room air shortly after surgery and he continued to progress without assistance. We were given an oxygen mask that we could pull out in case of an emergency and to be safe we left it on his pillow, blowing towards his face, when his numbers would get into the low 90's or even the high 80's but for the majority of our stay we didn't have to use it. He would get low when he got upset, during diaper changes and shuffling him from lap to bed, but those kinds of drops are typical in children who are upset and once he had calmed down everything when back to normal. We were monitored for 24 hours at the hospital and when we were checked on the next morning we were excited that we were cleared for release. All things considered the surgery could not have gone any better.

The day after surgery, Riann getting to play with Colby. He loved having her sit up there in his bed with him. He watched her the whole time she played "Doctor'. I love that you can already see how much he loves her every time they're together.

Riann came up and visited Colby on the day after surgery. She seemed to have a great time in the hospital room. She has gotten to play stethoscopes at our family doctor's office so when she saw one hanging up in Colby's room she immediately asked to play with it. The nurse assigned to us for the day offered it to her and told us she could take it home. We were amazed. Riann LOVES it. She calls it her "Doctor". She asks if she can Doctor everything and is constantly listening to everyone's body parts. The nurses were fantastic up at the hospital. We were very well taken care of and we were grateful for their kindness and how gentle they were with Colby.

We have been amazed at the difference this surgery has made in him. When he's resting he's completely quite, like he never had any issues at all. He does occasionally have stridor (the noise he used to make when breathing) but we think that is more related to the swelling he's had and a small cold he's gotten since being home. We notice ourselves checking on him constantly because we can't hear him anymore. Other than his flip in sleeping habits, he seems to be healing great. We are working through his shortened sleeping periods, probably not as patiently as the Lord would like, and he seems to be slowly making progress.

Thank you to everyone who has helped us through this process. Having so many people to update on a regular basis has helped me cope with everything much better then I would have had, had we had to do it on our own. In an effort to make sure everyone was updated we have been forced to focus on the positive and that has helped us keep things in perspective, even during the rough times. The Lord has blessed Colby with a quick recovery and we pray that as we do our follow up appointments we will get more and more good news. As we talk to other parents dealing with the same problems Colby has, we understand more that there is much to be grateful for. Many of the other children, we have learned about, deal with problems much greater than this. Laryngomalacia is one of the smaller issues that they have to deal with on a daily basis and we know we are blessed because it could have been much worse. We appreciate everyone who has helped us through this. We are grateful for such amazing friends and family members. Thank you all we couldn't do this without you.

A visual explination

First, I'm sorry if you are someone with a weak stomach. I'm not usually too bad with stuff like this but recently the "real" pictures have been getting to me. I can do the illustrations just fine but there's little out there, in an illustration format, that actually shows what's going on.

Paul found this picture under Google images. The image on the left shows what a normal Larynx should look like. The hole in the middle is the airway. The photo on the right shows what happens to someone with Laryngomalacia. In Colby's case I don't think it's THIS bad because he still breaths but the cartilage around his Larynx is soft and it does flap forward, this vibrates and creates his noisy breating makes it so he has to put extra effort into breathing.

Finding this image has helped me understand better what we were looking at. When they've scoped him to diagnose his condition, and to check his progress, they haven't really shown us what we they looking for. I imagine they didn't go into depth mid-exam because it's got to be a VERY uncomfortable proceedure and it wasn't something Colby would sit calmly though. I think, to make sure they didn't spend more time in his nose and airway then necessary, they felt it was better to explain after confirming the condition. The only problem with that is we were left to our own imagination what was going on. I don't say that in a negitive light because I wouldn't have wanted the doctor to stop and walk everyone through what was going on mid-diagnosis either. There were diagrams in the office that we could look at but there wasn't anything like this. We understood the general problem and that's what we needed at the time. Now that he's going in for surgery we wanted a little more information and by looking at it further we've come to better understand what's going on. I still don't like the idea of surgery but if this is what needs to be done, we'll do it.

Hope I didn't gross anyone out too bad... Hope this helps.