Easter

Easter morning I caught Lincoln mid-super-excited-hyperventilating-laugh about all the candy & toys he found in his basket. The first few seconds are hilarious. The rest is just random recording, as I don't have the software to edit it.

Getting up in the rain and going to the park for egg hunt that lasted less than 30 seconds may not have been worth it. It was completely crazy - a total madhouse! Forget about letting the kids pick up anything, it was each parent for themselves... so Lincoln didn't make out too well. But we had a basket for him at home & then a great Easter egg hunt at Grandma & Grandpa Douglas' that afternoon.

Nate & Lincoln getting ready to hunt eggs in the freezing cold!

The crazy crowd at the local park!
Nate & Lincoln are hiding behind the Grandma in the tan coat...
She didn't actually help with the hunt though, she was just a plant
by some parents to get in the way of other egg hunters. It worked.


This egg... this mini egg, no less, was the only one Lincoln even got!

Good thing Grandma had an egg hunt too.
It was so much funner without a huge crowd!


Some cupcakes I made for Easter dinner... well dessert.
I thought they turned out pretty cute.

California Dreams

We had a blast on vacation in California this last month. The whole Thayer crew made the 10-12 hour trip to central CA to visit my grandparents, my aunts & uncles, and my cousins. It was great to see everyone and a bit crazy, what with the three baby boys we packed along wherever we went. If there is one thing I know it's that 3 babies=a LOT of gear.

Everyone got to Angel's Camp on Saturday or Sunday (April 18-19) and we all stayed in the same condo for a week. It was a bit tight, but it was fun to all be together. I'll just do a photo montage of the week so you can see our travels:

Bribing Lincoln to be quiet in the car with a lollipop.

Visiting my grandparents.

By Lake Comanche (just beautiful country!)


The whole crew outside Columbia State Park. (minus Jon)


Mr. Hollywood at the resort pool


At the bottom of Mercer Caverns


Lincoln & Mom at the beach in San Francisco


The Three Musketeers at the resort

Diphramatic what?

Sorry this is so long. This is actually a sort of personal journal for us and we didn’t want to forget it all! Most of you know the basic story already, but Lincoln took us on one wild & crazy ride this last few months. Looking back, you could say that Lincoln's health had been on the decline for a few months, though we didn't see the big picture quite like that until now. He has always been a happy, healthy, chubby little guy but started coming down with one thing after another and we attributed it to a nasty winter season of bugs and colds.

The week prior was one of worry, due to a relentless fever and lack of energy on Lincoln's part. He was diagnosed with an ear infection & a virus, so we waited for the medications to take effect... but they didn't. Come Monday morning (March 16th), I took Lincoln back to the doctor. He was as sick as I'd ever seen him - pale and listless. The Dr. recommended a trip to the ER to get some IV fluids and to be under observation and later that evening that's where we ended up.

They start by testing his vitals, but he totally fails when they check his oxygen levels. They put him on oxygen immediately and the ER doctor orders a chest x-ray to see what’s going on in his lungs. It comes back and the doctor thinks it’s severe pneumonia blocking his left lung… then he comes back in and tells us that he was looking over the x-ray again and it MIGHT be something different and we need to go do a CAT scan.

As soon as the CAT scan is done the doctor tells us it’s not pneumonia after all and it’s actually a diaphragmatic hernia. In other words, there is a hole in his diaphragm and his intestines/stomach are in his chest cavity compressing his left lung and pushing on his heart. Oh and by the way, he needs surgery as soon as possible, and I’ve called a life-flight to take him up to Primary Children’s Medical Center.

Needless to say we were pretty shocked. Within 36 hours Lincoln was out of surgery at PCMC and doing infinitely better. Of course, I’ve skipped over a lot of unpleasantness on his part (catheters, shots, NG tubes included). Not exactly how we pictured spring break this year, but through it all we felt very blessed and very lucky. It’s amazing that Link doesn’t have any other defects or won’t suffer lasting problems. The doctors and nurses were wonderful and we were confident that LJ was in the best hands possible.

At this point (1 month later) he is completely back to normal and loving life!

Waiting for surgery (Tuesday morning)

Post-surgery... or the "I feel like crap" expression

Yum! Popsicles for breakfast.
Lincoln's first taste of food since Mon. morning (it's Fri. morning)

Well, he's got the use of both lungs now. That's for sure!

Happy again! Unhooked from machines for a few minutes & chilling with dad.
The nurse brought a playmat, books, & toys right to our room.

Mom & Lincoln at the Hospital playroom.

Home again, home again jiggity jig.
No wheelchairs here, just a sweet red wagon!

Daddy's Boy

Lincoln is a total daddy's boy. He gets so excited to talk to his daddy on the phone and just can't stop smiling when his dad comes home. My favorite part is when Lincoln starts telling Nate about his day. Sometimes he gets really into it with hand gestures and everything. It's very funny to watch sometimes!

Cardboard Construction

I had some large boxes left over from a Young Women's activity and, just for fun, we decided to make Lincoln his own place. Nate & I both loved playing with boxes and building forts when we were kids and Link is no exception. He loved his new place!

Mr. Clean

This is something Nate caught on camera while I was at a Young Women's activity. Does he take after his daddy or what?

Happy Birthday Lincoln!

So this is quite the tardy post, seeing that Lincoln's birthday was in January; however I thought those of you who weren't able to share it might like to see a few pictures. Lincoln turned one on the 9th of January and we to throw a big party (well...I decided - Nate was all for just a cupcake after dinner).

Lincoln LOVES books and so we went with a "Very Hungry Caterpillar" slash "Eric Carle" theme. I put up streamers, balloons, and hung the covers to all of Lincoln's Eric Carle books on the walls. We sent out caterpillar invitations, had a caterpillar theme cake, and a big buffet of food. We fit a whole lot of family into our house... cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents.

We set up a big buffet of of taco soup & all the fixings and I made a chocolate cake with mint oreo filling and chocolate frosting. That didn't go with the theme though, so I covered it in white fondant and decorated it with circles & a fondant caterpillar. Everyone seemed to enjoy it, though Lincoln wouldn't oblige us by making a mess when he ate his cake. He kept pretty clean as he tried to eat very precisely with his spoon... LOL, like father like son I guess!

We ate, we talked, we laughed, and Lincoln was in awe of the hub-bub that comes with lots of cousins! It was a fun night.

My streamer masterpiece

Lincoln's "messy" picture... hardly a bit of cake on that boy!

The buffet (and a shot of the cake)

A close up of the caterpillar

More decorations

Good thing Lincoln had some cousins to help open his presents.
He's hiding somewhere in the background of that melee!

Attention Friends & Family!

After falling off the blog wagon this last month (only one post in Feb.) I think we're back on with lots of updates, videos, & photos coming soon. I'm still struggling (just bit) getting the site to do everything I want it to, but I'm sure we will prevail, though we'll need your help.

It's embarrassing to admit this, I accidentally deleted our friends & family links during the recent construction on this site. Could all of you e-mail us your blog addresses so we can put you back up? PLEASE?

Thanks!

Husband Tag

Sorry this took me forever to respond to Tehani, but here goes:

Whats your husbands name?
Nathan

How long have you been married?
Almost six years... yikes!

How long did you date?
Almost 4 years.

How old is he?
27

Who eats more sweets?
It's a tie.

Who is a better singer?
We don't sing.

Who is smarter?
In math/analytical situations, Nate, definitely. In language arts/writing situations, it's me. We tend to balance each other out.

Who does the laundry?
Both of us.

Who pays the bills?
Nate.

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed?
Nate.

Who mows the lawn?
Nate.

Who cooks dinner?
Me.

Who drives?
Usually Nate, but I do sometimes too.

Who is the first to say they are wrong?
Me... because Nate's never wrong!

Who kissed who first?
Nate kissed me.

Who asked who out first?
Nate, though he had plenty of encouragement.

Who wears the pants?
Hmmm. I think we each get a leg.

I tag: Karen, Shelby, and Carma

Merry Christmas & A Happy New Year!

Arrrgh. It's been a really long time since I posted and it was just the luck of the draw that naked Santa was our last post. Link has been sickly this past month and between cleaning up vomit off of Link, cleaning up vomit off of me, and the constant laundering of vomit covered blankets, clothing, and towels (not to mention forcing fluids down his throat), we've been a little busy. We finally figured out what was going in that little system of his and I *think* he's better (after 4 weeks of throwing up, I can't really believe it's over).

Christmas was really fun. We spent Christmas Eve with the Douglas' and Christmas day with the Thayer's. Lincoln wasn't super into Christmas morning... he got bored after present #2 and just played with wrapping paper instead. :) Nate had several days off and we loved having him home (and with no schoolwork). We had a chance to visit with almost all of our family at one point or another over the winter break and even got to ride 4-wheelers. It was really fun, but we're all back to reality again. No more long breaks and Nate is back to school. We still feel a little crazy at times between church callings, work, school, and a little busy boy that's into everything, but all is well at the Douglas home.

Lincoln playing in the leaves.

Lincoln at Grandma Wood's Christmas party.

Sick baby!

Looking in his stocking Christmas morning.

MEGA BLOCKS!!!! (and Nate w/his beard)

Finder of the Christmas Pickle.
(Jon... still in his rasta phase)

Lincoln with Grandma Jensen on Christmas day.

Lincoln on Cousin Becky's 4-wheeler.
(He's not sure if he likes them yet, but we took him on a few rides)