One Year old!!

Nick one day old!!

Nick one year old!!

It happened!! My baby turned one year old!! Seriously this last year has gone by so fast, and Nick has grown and changed so much!!  He is such a great little boy!!
He currently weighs 23 pound, and is wearing 12 - 18 month clothes. He is in size 4 diapers.  He has 8 teeth, 7 up until last week.  He has been sporting the odd number for about a month now, so we were happy to have that one come through finally.  He loves playing "peek-a-boo", having baths or showers.  He has become very attached to a blue fuzzy blanket and will NOT go down for a nap or the night with out it.  I even made a new blanket out of the same material, but he does not like it!! He also has a stuffed monkey that he sleeps with that he loves.  He also loves books, he doesn't necessarily like you to read them to him, he just likes to turn the pages!
At ten months he started (we made him) sleeping through the night.  He has two 1 1/2 - 2 hrs long naps every day.  He is happy and is going, and exploring all the time.  His tricks are waving, clapping, high fives(more like swats your hand out the way), walks along the furniture, and pulls him self up on everything. His favourite trick is to shake his head "no", which is always a crowd pleaser!!  He won't let me feed him any more.  He wants to feed himself which ends up all over the floor and him!! He started army crawling in May, and has finally decided at 11 months that crawling on all fours isn't so bad!
He had a fun birthday party for him.  Grandma Susie, Grandpa Scott, Grandma Marolee, Grandpa Del, Grandpa Bruce, Great Grandma & Grandpa Dudley, Aunt Monette, Aunt Amy, Uncle Max, mom, and dad all showed up to wish Nick a happy birthday!! We ate lasagna, caeser salad, and garlic bread!! Most importantly we had cake!! Nick loved the icing!! He made a bit of a mess with the cake.  He didn't destroy the whole cake or eat the whole cake.  He did his thing them we took it away and cut it up for everyone to have some.  I was just going to give him a little cupcake but everyone out voted me and said to give him to whole thing.  It all turned out awesome and was a lot of fun!!
Nick got spoiled!! He received a walker, a pirate ships, books, a sock monkey, and pjs.  I think thats all, but I could be wrong.  It was a great day!! He love our Little Nicholas and are so happy that he is a part of our family!!

 Riding the present from mom and dad!! 

 The Birthday cake! (I did the baking, Zac did the decorating!!)

 Mmmmmm!! Cake!! More like icing!!

The pirate ship from G&G Erickson!

Update!!

Well I have been dreading blogging for a while because I am so far behind.
Summer was good to us!! We played, we eat, we slept, we visited with family, and we went swimming!! Well, Nick and I did all that will Zac worked!! This summer we were able to introduce Nicholas to 2 uncles, 2 aunts, and 5 cousins.  He has now meet everyone in my family, except my sister Amber and her family (hopefully we see them soon).
July
Celebrated July 1st with family.
Zac and I both ran the 5km Road race.  We weren't fast, but we completed it.
Cork, Ian, Natalie, and Eddie drove out from Ottawa for a visit.  Spent every minute that we could with them.  Ate a lot of food, stayed up way to late, learned a new game (Blockus), and spent some really good time together.

August
Drove to Calgary twice.  Once for a Specialist appointment to assess Nicholas's hernia.  Yes you are reading that right.  We went back to the same Specialist because Nick had a hernia on the other side.  We then went back to Calgary about 2 weeks later for surgery.  It was much the same as last time so if you want to know how it went then read back on my earlier post about the surgery the first time around.  Nick did awesome.  One of the biggest difference was that Nick was much more clingy and cried a bit more when they brought him back from recovery.  He was also numb for a lot longer and couldn't move his leg for while longer.

After we were discharged, we headed up to Edmonton for a little vacation.  We stayed at my sisters house and had a really good time.  We did some shopping at West Ed, Zac did the bungee jump, Nick got to ride the train at Galaxy land, and Zac convinced me to do the roller coaster (which I probably will never do again).  We had a lot of fun!! We left saturday morning and drove to Calgary were we meet up with some friends and went to the Zoo!! The zoo was awesome.  Nick loved the animals and would point and grunt at all of them.  He even waved "Hi" and "Bye" to some of them.  He loved the monkeys and it was great to see him having such a good time.  It was such a good idea to stop because it broke the day up for us, and we tired Nick out and he ended up sleeping the whole way home!!

September
Zac has returned to school, he is liking it for the most part.  He said it is different this year cause he doesn't know anyone in his classes.  He is working on an Independent Study again this year and it will start taking up a lot of his time.
 Im back at work.  Sad and Happy day.  Sad to actually have to work and leave my baby, happy cause its nice to get away and actually use my skills and education.  I am working a couple half days a week at a clinic.  Its a lot different then working in the hospital, but so far I am liking it.  I pick up some shifts every now and then so it is working out perfect for me and my family.  Zac watches him when he is home, and Grandma Susie watches him every friday for us.  Going back to work was a little bit easier for me knowing that Nick is either with dad or grandma.

Happenings!

Some fun activities that we have done in the last couple months are:
Swimming. Nick and I went with some friends, Bailey and Kaiden, swimming at the taber aquatic center. It was a lot of fun. Nick really likes to swim (well if can call splashing and drinking the water swimming!!). I had a really good time and really enjoyed the company. It was so nice to get to visit with a new friend and find out some more about her. I hope that we can continue to develop a friendship. It's so nice to have some girl time/ chat.

Waterton. Zac, nick, and I went to waterton on the long weekend. It was awesome. It weather was absolutely beautiful. We went on walks, ate ice cream, ( grandma even shared a little with nick!) looked at the falls, and had lunch at the golf course! We stayed over night at the cabin. Haha!! It was a bit of a gong show! Nick went down really good, but at about 10 o'clock, while Zac and I went for a little walk, he got woke up and screamed like crazy. We got home just as great grandma was trying to calm him down. Poor little guy. He isn't use to noise at night and he was in a strange place so he was freaked out. I feed him and sang him "I'm a child of God" and he calmed down. Zac and I went to bed, but nick wouldn't sleep in the play pen so he slept next to me. Neither one of use slept very good and at 5 am the room got light so nick thought it was wake up time. So Zac got up and took nick for walk around town for a couple hours so that we wouldn't wake very one else in the cabin up, and so that I could get a little sleep. What a awesome dad! And great husband!!
We were both pretty tired but we are gonna try it again this summer!! Maybe we are just asking for trouble, but whatever!!



First baby and me. Nick and I have started going to a group called first baby and me. It's a group of moms that get together and we talk and discuss about baby and mom stuff!! It's really fun and I'm getting to know and become friends with some ladies! Zac calls it a support group, which I guess it kind of is but whatever!! It has been a really great thing for nick an I. It has given me the opportunity to leave my comfort circle and make some friends and also nick a chance to interact with other babies. This group is going through the summer and I'm so excited.

Bike rides. I recently got a new bike and for Christmas I got a bike trailer so we have being going on little bike rides around town (well when weather permits). Nick love it, And I'm getting into better shape, but I enjoy getting out in the nice weather. We also like going for Sunday bike rides than dad gets to come with us!!




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What's up?!

Nicholas is 8 months old!! Can you believe it?! I sure as heck can't! He jabbers like crazy, crawls ( well more commando style) every where, and is such a clown!! We love him so much and I can't seem to get enough of him!! Some stats on him are he weighs just under 21 pounds, he has two teeth with two more on the way, he loves food ( has yet to refuse anything, although he didn't really like avocado he still ate it), he is still wearing the same size clothes since six months. He is thinning out quite and bit. Sometimes I look and wonder were my chubby little baby has gone. Nick is still not sleeping through the night. He has his good nights and bad nights, but what it comes right down to is that he loves the boob!! Haha!! We still try to let him cry at least once in the night, I don't like going in his room before midnight cause then he seems to wake up more often throughout the night. He does however, go down for naps and bed so easy. Zac calls it the four B's of bed. Bath, book, boob, bed!! We have a pretty good routine and it seems to work quite well. It does mean that we have no life after seven o'clock at night. But it's worth it!!
Here's some pics of nick crawling, playing and just being cute!!















Zac is working at Decco this summer and seems to be enjoying it. So if you need your windshield repaired he's the guy for you!! Other than that he's just catching up with some old friends ie. The xbox and enjoying spending time with nick and I.

As for me I'm hanging out at home with one of my favorite men, looking forward to nice sunny weather. I'm excited to take nick swimming, go on bike rides, and just enjoy the weather!! Zac is so tanned already which means that I have a lot of catching up.

I am also training to run the waterton glacier relay at the end the month. It is a 100 mile race that consists of 24 legs. I'm on a team with 11 others. I have to run two legs, one is 4 miles (6.6 km) and the other is 3.5 miles (5.6 km). I have never done anything like this so I'm super excited, but terrified. I just hope that I don't die!! Haha!! But a do get a T-shirt out of it!!!

This year Zac and I are also going to run the 5 km road race here in town. A lot of zacs family are doing it so we thought we would join in!

Hopefully I'll stay up to date on here so I can record our summer happenings!!

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Surgery Day

Our trip to Calgary for nicks surgery started the day before. We left home early afternoon so that we could run some errors and do a little shopping. We than checked into a hotel. They offered a medical rate so we got a discount and where only about ten minutes away from the childrens hospital, which was really nice considering we had to be there at 7 am. That night before bed zac gave nicholas and i both a blessing, which was very comforting to me. I was having a pretty hard time and crying even though i was fine up until the night before. I was really worried about nick not being able to eat because he was a night eater and would eat every 2-3 hrs all night long. He couldn't eat before his surgery so I woke up at 4 am and fed him one last time. Than it was a quick power snooze before we had to get up and ready to head to the hospital. We waited for about two hours before it was his turn for surgery. Nick did so awesome!! He was so happy and pleasant the whole day, even when he was hungry and tired. He was a charmer and had the nurses hooked.
We are so grateful for all of the familys support, prayers, and love sent our way. Zac and I held it together at the hospital and didn't cry once! Which was a huge blessing consider how freaked out I was on the inside, and the huge wreck I was the night before!!
The children's hospital was definitely the place to be. They really care for the family along with the patient. Just some of the cool features that they had were a tv screen in the waiting room that had your child's initials with the surgeons name all listed and color coded. You could tell were your child was based on the color. Nick waited in pre op for a while but we could see that so we werent freaking out when he was in there longer than expected. It also shows when the surgery is done and they are going to recovery. We then waited in that room for the surgeon to come tell us how every thing went. dr. Beaudry was an awesome doctor and put mine and zacs concerns at rest. He also sat down on a chair and looked us straight in the face when talking to us. Which might sound like a silly think to notice but it impressed me!! the doctor also commented on how big the hernia was, so im really glad that we pushed our family doctor and got a referral. Another feature they have at the hospital is a beeper system ( like what some restaurants have) that flashes and buzzes when your child is done in recovery and heading back to their room. That way we were able to be back in the room before nick was.
Even though this experience was pretty stressful I'm so grateful that we were able to get it done and at an amazing hospital. It was a pretty exhausting day, we had to be at the hospital at 700am. But because everything went as planned with no complication we were out of there by 1200.
Nick bounced back and was his usually self the next day. There were only a couple times when myself and Zac got playing to rough with him and he let out a really sad cry. We both felt so bad. But luckily he was fine. Here are some pictures of him the day of surgery. I would put up before and afters of his hernia but because of location it shows his goods so I will refrain!!!



Nick patiently waiting before surgery. I laughed at the pink pants and Zac said they were pinky orange. Which to me is salmon, which is still pink!!!



Nick after surgery. They gave him a caudal which is kinda like an epidural that's helps with the pain during and after surgery. It is suppose to take 4-6 hrs before they have control of their legs and pee. Haha!! Nick was kicking and rolling over before we left the hospital! The towel on his foot is where is iv site was so they put the towel on there o protect it. Nick was rubbing his other foot on it trying to get it off it was funny. The phone case, which is in both pictures is his favorite toy. Haha!! He chews like crazy on it. I guess I won't be getting it back any time soon.

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Six months

My baby boy is getting so big. I can't believe that he is six months old. He is such a ham. He loves to talk but for the most part he is the strong silent type.






He has been eating solids for a couple weeks now which includes rice cereal, oat cereal, peas, green beans, sweet potatoes, squash, carrots, pears, apple sauce, bananas, and blueberries. Some he enjoys more than others. I have some rice cereal biscuits and he loves them!! He makes a great big mess with them!! Haha!!






He is wearing size 12 months clothing and size 3 diapers He weighs over 20 pounds (not sure exactly). We have upgraded him to a different car-seat because he was getting to heavy to carry around in the infant seat!!






He loves paper and tags, he will go out of his way to grab a tag on a pillow, sweater, or toy! He has a toy with lots of ribbons attached and it is one of his favorites. He also likes my old plastic phone case! He still enjoys the jumparoo or in his cause the pooparoo cause that's where he usually is when he poops!! Haha!!






He loves books and loves it when we read to him. Which is every night before bed. he has a really good bedtime routine and he goes down like a dream but unfortunately he still wakes up every 2-3 hrs. We have been trying to get him to sleep longer but nothing is quite working. We haven't tried everything because he is going for surgery this week so we didn't want to start something then not stick to it cause of his surgery. We have recently stopped swaddling him and he seems to be doing ok with the change. He has a favorite blue blanket that is fuzzy and soft. He loves it right close to his face or sometimes right on top of it. Haha!!



He loves bath time. Is favorite things to do In There is to suck on the wash cloth, and he still kicks his legs like crazy.



He rolls like crazy, and can sit up So well. He gets a little frustrated when he can't quite reach a toy. He wants to crawl so bad but can't quite figure it out. he recently has cut his two bottom teeth. He was so grumpy last week, had a runny nose, and fever. His gums were so red and hot. But they finally cut through and he I a lot happier thank goodness!!
He is The happiest, cutest little boy!! We love him so much!!
Happy six months
Nicholas Evan!!






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Family pictures

Here is our newest family picture.


It turned out so cute. I love these boys.
So this is the week that nick goes for his surgery. I am excited for it to be finished. I'm freaking out about it. I don't think I make a good patient or parent of a patient. I like to be on the other side were my emotional involvement is limited and people aren't working on my baby. His hernia has gotten so much worse so I know it something that needs to be done. I just hope and pray that every thing goes as planned.
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Nicholas!!

Nicholas is now 4 months old. He is the happiest baby boy!! He is all smiles and loves to laugh and play with mom and dad. He weighs over 17 pounds, and I love all of his rolls, and chub!! He wears 6-12 month old clothes, depending on the brand. He has been in size 2 diapers for the last month and is quickly out growing them. I can't believe how fast my baby is growing. I am so excited to see him grow and change, but I wish that he would stay little for just a while longer!!

Nicholas loves bath time. He kicks and kicks, I think he runs about 5 miles in the bath tub every night. He loves his jumparoo, and is so happy to play in it. He still hates tummy time, but we still do it several times a day. He's getting better at it, and last a little longer every day. He loves to go swimming, but not as much as bath time. This last month we have had trouble with him sleeping at night. We have been working on it, but have to remember that he is still a baby, and not every baby is the same. We have a little bed time routine, he has a bath, then we rub him down with lotion/little massage, then read a book, and rocked to sleep. He loves the song "I am a Child of God" and if he is crying if you start to sing that song he will calm right down. I have tried other primary songs but others don't seem to have to same effect.

He is a drooling monster and can soak a bib in under an hour. He loves sucking on his hands and will hold and chew on a teething toy. With in the last week he has started to do raspberries with his tongue, which makes for a mess of drool or milk!! But it is about the cutest thing ever!! He has finally grown out of his puking stage, which I'm so grateful for. He no longer uses a burb cloth per feeding one can usually last a couple or more!!

In January we went to the Children's Hospital for a consult with a pediatric surgeon. Nicholas is scheduled to have surgery on the 6th of April to fix his hernia.

We love Nicholas so much and can't imagine life with out him!!

Gall Bladder

On December 28th Zac and I had just finished eating lunch (pepperoni pizza), when I went to the bedroom to finish getting ready for the day. I was blow drying my hair when all of a sudden I got the worst pain ever! I immediately dropped to my knees. I could hardly move. The pain was indescribable. I couldn't tell if i needed to use the bathroom, if I needed to puke or what. Zac didn't know what to do either. I was miserable. After about a half hour of no relief Zac decided that I needed to go up to the ER. We headed up to the ER only to be told that there was no Doctor and that I would have to go to the clinic. I was ticked. I was in so much pain, and couldn't even imagine having to go wait up at the clinic to see a doctor. So we headed to the clinic, but before we got there I vomited because of the pain. I was so glad that we had grabbed a bucket before we left or there would of been a mess in the car. When we got to the clinic they were kind enough to take me right back to see the doctor. After seeing the doctor for about five minutes he concluded that I was most likely having a gall bladder attack. He then sent me back up to the ER so that I could get something for pain. The gave me some morphine and gravol, and I finally had some relief. At 530 the doctor sent me home cause I was feeling better, and told me to take it easy and try not to eat anything fatty. That evening I laid on the couch and didn't do much, but that night everything changed, I started to puke, and could not stop. I was so nauseated that every time I moved I would puke. The next day I went back to the ER to get some fluids because I was worried about my milk supply because I couldn't keep anything down. While I was there they drew some blood. They sent me home a little while later. On Thursday I was feeling a bit better and thought that the worst was behind me. However, that night I looked in the mirror and I was yellow, and I was also having more pain. I had got my lab work back and my billi level was high but I didn't think much about it. Zac and I again loaded the baby up and went to the ER. I was given another shot of morphine for the pain and was told that I something was definitely up a that I needed to come back in the morning for repeat labs and that a surgeon would be contacted. Friday I went and did the repeat labs and by 1030 I was on my way to Lethbridge to see the surgeon. I sat in the ER in Lethbridge while I waited for a ultrasound, which was one of the most painful things ever. I was hurting pretty bad then when some one is pressing on you and moving a stick back and forth is really not pleasant. By 200 I was given the news that I would have to admitted because I had a stone in my common bile duct that was causing my jaundice and that I would need an ERCP and then my gall bladder removed. Well friends I do not recommend getting sick over the holidays.

By this time I was so sick and hadn't ate anything in days that I didn't have much milk so we were having to supplement Nick. I spend New Year's Eve laying in a hospital bed, hooked up to an IV, puking my guts out. It was a great start to the year!! We initially thought that Zac and Nicholas would stay in the hospital room with me, but I couldn't feed Nick and a crying baby in a little hospital room is not a nice sound. Nicholas just wanted me to rock and cuddle him, but because I was so weak and nauseated I couldn't. Nicholas and Zac went out to his moms were Grandma Susie helped out for the next week.

I was admitted on friday and waited until Tuesday afternoon for my ERCP. Because I was waiting for this procedure I wasn't allowed to eat, which wasn't that hard because I was nauseated. The stone was causing the bile to back up into my stomach so I constantly was puking bile. An ERCP is a procedure that were they put a tube down your throat, into the stomach and small intestine. Using dye they find the common bile duct and remove the stone. They sedate you, so really its not bad at all. After that was done I felt so much better. I was rarely nauseated, and was actually hungry. However, I was on the wait list for surgery to get my gall bladder out so I still could not eat anything. On Wednesday, the surgeon visited me and I was told that I would have surgery that day. I waited and waited and waited. By 530 that night I still had not had surgery. I was starting to get really frustrated because I wanted to be home with my family. I started to get really grumby, and was kinda rude to the nurses. Finally the told me that they had just talked to the surgeon and he had me booked for 900 that night. 900 came and went, and I was still not in surgery. At 1000 the nurse finally came and told me that I was not going to have surgery that evening. I was so mad that I started to cry. They finally let me eat something. All I wanted was jello, but they didn't have any so I had a half a piece of toast, and a couple sips of a carnation breakfast drink. This was a really bad idea! I was sick that night and in so much pain. Again I was NPO after midnight. The next day I was finally taken for surgery just after 1200, I waited in the pre op hold for about an hour before I was taken in to the OR. I was back in recovery by about 330, and to my room by 430. I was so thirsty that all I wanted was a huge drink of ice cold water. Felt so good after surgery. I got up right away and peed, so that I could go home. I was discharged that night!! It was the happiest day ever!! One week in the hospital, two surgeries later, and i was finally on the mend!!

I couldn't lift over 10 pounds for 2 weeks so my mom came to my house every day while Zac was at school to help with Nicholas. Nicholas took back to nursing, and my milk supply finally came back. I was really relieved. I love breast feeding and I was not ready to quite. It was a struggle at times and we still had to supplement with formula, but about 3 weeks later I was back in the game, and Nicholas was getting enough from me, and we quite supplementing. I hadn't lost my supply totally, I tried to pump about twice a day while in the hospital, and every day when Nicholas came to visit I would try to feed him, even though he wasn't getting much, his suckling helped to keep my supply up.

A month has past, and everything is finally back to normal. I feel great, and Nicholas is doing awesome. I really learned a lot during this trial, as did Zac. I was so grateful for amazing family members that stepped in and helped to care for Nicholas. He spend a lot of time with the Grandmas. I am so thankful for a loving husband who was so helpful, and caring. I am so grateful for the worthy priesthood holder that he is and that he was able to give me blessings when I needed them. I know that the Lord was watching over my family, and me. Even with everything that was going on with me, there were no complications with either of my surgeries, and I returned to full health, and had a really speedy recovery. I am so thankful for caring people in my ward who brought meals to us. I truly am grateful for the awesome, amazing family I have. Thank you so much for all your help!!

Have you ever....

not blogged in forever, and the thought of doing it is overwhelming? I have been thinking about blogging for the past month but every time I think about it, I push it to the back burner because there is so much that I haven't blogged about. So to help myself out I thought that tonight I would try to tackle the task.

Christmas this year was awesome! It was a bit lower key than most years because Nicholas and I were both feeling sick so we just hang out in Raymond and didn't travel any where. Not that we really travel much, usually we go into Lethbridge to the Live Nativity, then go to my dads for a little bit.

This year we started off the Christmas celebration on Saturday with the Williams Christmas party. It is always nice to get together with family and visit. Zac and I were in charge of the Nativity this year, which was a little stressful because it was the first year doing it and we didn't know how it would go over. It turned out really well and was a really good way to end the christmas party. I also won a door prize this year at the party which made it that much better!! The next day, Sunday we went to my dad's house. My brother and his family were there so we opened presents with them. The next week was pretty busy. Between the Dahl Christmas party, a dentist appointment, a doctors appointment, and finishing up shopping we didn't get a break.

We then kicked Christmas eve off at Grandma and Grandpa Dudley's by opening Gramma Jammas. This is always a favorite. This was Nicholas's first pair, and he loved them!! We than went to my mom's for a little bit while every one else went into the Nativity. We than headed out to Kevin and Monette's were we had a bit a visit. We headed over to grandma and grandpa Erickson were we put our jammies on and just relaxed.

Christmas day was pretty awesome!! I got spoiled!! As did Zac and Nicholas. This year I got a cedar chest, which was made by Grandpa Dudley and Zac, it was such a special gift that I will treasure always. I also got a bike trailer, which I am so excited to use this summer!! Zac got a guitar, and apple TV. Nicholas got a jumparoo, which he loves!!

We then went to my mom's house were we got spoiled some more. We than went to Grandpa and Grandma Dudleys for Christmas dinner. It was so good, and I ate way to much. It is so nice to get together and spend time with family. I love holidays for that reason!

On Boxing Day we headed out to Tim's (my brother) house. It is so fun when we visit with them. He has two little boys that are so cute and it is fun to see them play with Nicholas. Lexi is also such a good sister and plays with the boys so well. Tim bbq some steaks and we ate salads. it was a nice change from turkey. WE then had fruit and chocolate for dessert. Lexi than talked us in to playing some Phase 10, which is always a good time.

The next day Zac and I headed into Lethbridge to do a little Boxing Day Shopping. Because we had been really busy the week before Christmas we decided that the next day we were grounded and that we weren't going to go any where. This is when the most exciting part of christmas break happened.