Hard to believe we began this parenting adventure over eight years ago, yet hard to remember not having this loving boy as part of our lives.
So proud of Tuck in striving to make right and good choices, especially this time in his life with his baptism approaching.
Happy Birthday Buddy, we’re so blessed to have your energetic soul as part of our family!
WE LOVE YOU!
The magic of Christmas lives on thru watching your children!
Traditional picture on the steps…
(When we asked Elliot if he wanted to go see if Santa came, he promptly ran to the kitchen, got a spoon from the drawer, then said ‘show santa the spoon!’. So sweet he thought Santa would be waiting downstairs! And the boys were CLINGING to their pillow pets they had received from the Great Hunsakers the night before)
Here’s the room:
(The BIG tramp was a gift from santa)
And the kids got to come in one at a time, oldest to youngest.
How did the kids react? Elliot walked in,
Ignored the tramp, and went straight to his red car from the night before.
Truman was excited
And so was Tucker.
They took a little jump on the tramp,
Then started opening presents.
At this point, Elliot decided he better take a try on the ‘jump-o-line’
Lorelei slept thru all the noise,
Then Elliot finally settled in to open presents.
After the kids had opened all the presents (Including wii-motes and wii games– the kids didn’t notice we were missing one present…)
Then Dad found that present under the tree, and I wish I would have video taped the kids reaction, you can kind of see Tucker’s in the picture below.
They were so thrilled to finally get a wii! (After asking santa for THREE years in a row!)
We headed upstairs, set up the wii, and played the rest of the day, Put together a few lego kits
and Elliot sat in his car a majority of the day. Any time Lorelei was awake, he’d say ‘come here girl, get in the car’
Pretty cute.
We later opened family presents (a handmade christmas, the boys all made presents for their siblings, and us as parents..it was truely beautiful!)
A stuffed animal tent
Sock Monkey
Paper Crane
Tissue cover that looks like a Monster
(And not shown: Hair clips for Lorelei and I, Puzzle for Elliot, and x-mas ornaments)
We stayed in our jammies all day, and had a DELICIOUS dinner together.
What a glorious day!
Opening Christmas Outfits
A Greene tradition, the first present of Christmas Eve to open, the Christmas Outfits!
The night was spent with the Greene’s, and it was a fun night.
Lorelei got to meet both set of great grandparents for the first time,
There was lots of cooing over sweet baby Zane…
And hanging out with Cousins.
Watching Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer
A little guitar hero
Yummy food ( I was too busy eating to take pics of the food!)
Exchanging of Presents
(Elliot was so excited about this little tikes car, that when Toph pulled it out of the package, he sat in the cab, with out the wheels, and got upset anytime he couldn’t be in or near the car…throughout the construction of the vehicle..Thankfully Uncle Ryan and Toph were on the job!)
Pictures with the Great Greene’s
My siblings
And with the Smiths
And the kids
We broke away from the Greene party for a few minutes to video chat and exchange presents with the phillips
By the end of the night, we all felt like this…
With the kids in their jammies, we were off in the car to hurry home to bed, before Santa made his appearance!
The older I get, the more I realize how much work goes into parties like these. Thanks to my parents, aunt and uncle, cousins and siblings for such a wonderful night.
Even with out leaving the house too much, we’ve had some grand adventures…
December part two! 🙂
Tucker Doing Spelling Test/Homework while laying on his tummy on the desk (homework was not as ‘intense’ this month for him, and it was nice to not have to sit at the table, and do it!)
(picture by Tru)
And his favorite things about December poster hanging in the halls at school:
Gingerbread men. Lots and lots of gingerbread men. The big boys LOVED baking them this year. Moreso than ever before. What fun it was to share this tradition with my boys. Elliot spent a large portion of the activity playing in the sink. At least he was in the kitchen giggling with us or making us giggle.
The bookfind
(the phillips family tradition of hiding a book for each person in the family. Then everyone has to find the book, that matches your wrapping paper)
They found them! 🙂
What great books this year:
More bows for Lorelei
Watching baby Lorelei sleep.
Going,
Going, (yawn)
Gone.
Christmas Crafts
The kids Christmas Program where the kids sang so cute, their christmas songs!
(Videos to come 🙂 )
Elliot discovered Mittens, and wore them around the house for a week.
And Toph had a few extra days off this month…we always enjoy extra time together as a family
(picture by Tru)
More December still to come 🙂
Warning LONG post below! 🙂
PREFACE: I love December and Christmas time for so many reasons, first, the refocus of our lives to Christ, and second spending time with family and lastly all the traditions.
With a new baby, I am a little ‘germ-i-fobic’ I hate taking our babies into crowds, (Lorelei’s only left the house twice other than going to doctors appointments). So the usual fun christmas time festivities out in the community we usually attend didn’t happen this year. But it was nice to have a lower key Christmas, and just do some crafts and such at home. And I loved doing our Christmas Shopping via the internet (I may never go back to christmas shopping in the stores!).
Also, with Toph’s Recent job change he had the opportunity to go to a conference in Texas. He was a little nervous about leaving me and the kids and new baby, so family was called in as reinforcements to ’emily-sit’. 🙂 So many little things happened during the week he was away and my mom and sister helped me SO MUCH in holding down the fort. My mom helped during the days and Amy came and spent her nights here. I am lucky to have such a great family.
So the highlights from the month:
Pink tub bathing
Snow playing (Doesn’t Elliot just look adorable in that snowsuit? And the boys worked so hard on getting that ball all rolled up)
Lorelei got to meet Aunt Cathrine for the first time
Still enjoying dressing Lorelei in bows
Watching a sleeping baby, and laughing when we check on her and finding headbands over her eyes!
Discovered Hand Dancing (thanks Sisters JoAnna and Emily!) And now Elliot and I want to be hand dancers.
Making gingerbread house (Tucker and Truman worked together incredibly well to build this masterpiece, while Elliot ate all candy with in his reach, and when he couldn’t get anymore yelled, ‘Need more Tandy! (Candy) for the rest of the evening.)
Elliot’s still loving being with Baby Sis, and goes and sits next to her, or climbs on my lap while I hold her just to talk to her, my favorite is when he says ‘hello pretty girl!’
And this video I wanted to see if I could get him to call Lorelei ‘baby princess’, because it makes me laugh when he says it. He didn’t say it, but it was pretty cute video anyways! 🙂
Honk her nose from Emily Phillips on Vimeo.
Getting lots of loves and cuddles from grams
Being spoiled rotten by aunt Amy. (and it wasn’t just Lorelei or Truman, we all were)
Enjoying the lights of a beautifully decorated christmas tree, (especially Lorelei)
Daily advent service calendar given to our family from their primary leaders (so great in helping keep the children’s focused on Christ this Christmas)
A revival of the pots and pans band that was started many years ago.
Pots and Pans Band from Emily Phillips on Vimeo.
Hello Friends and Loved Ones!
Instead of mailing Christmas Cards, we are sending our love and ‘year in review’ through our yearly video:
Merry Christmas from the Phillips, 2010 from Christopher Phillips on Vimeo.
And a Quick Update of our year, 2010:
Christopher, Emily, Tucker, Truman, Elliot and Lorelei
Does life get any better than this? Our three boys kept us super busy in 2010 and we were all excited to welcome their new little sister into the world.
Tucker:
Tuck is a 2nd grader now and is looking forward to turning 8 this year. He is often found buried in a book, living the adventures of the Box Car Children or Hardy Boys. He takes great care of his little brothers and sister.
Truman:
Truman Ross finally adjusted to having a little brother when a new little sister came along this year. His 5 year old heart is chock full of love, kindness and occasionally other feelings which shall remain nameless. He loves being able to walk to kindergarten with his big brother and is an incredible friend at school.
Elliot:
Elliot can generally be found right in the middle of whatever it is that his two older brothers are doing. He loves to talk and while we don’t always understand what he has to say, that doesn’t seem to deter him from telling us. He takes great care of his little sister sharing his blankets, toys and lots of kisses.
Lorelei:
Lorelei arrived into the world a couple of weeks early at 8lbs and 3 oz big and 18 3/4 inches long with a head full of dark, curly hair. She has readily assumed the role of princess #2 in our home and patiently endures the loves, and cuddles and kisses of her three brothers and mom and dad.
Again, Thank You For Taking Time out of your Busy Lives to Check in on our little family. We wish you a MERRY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Another Galaxy.
Or to be more exact, STAR WARS has entered our life. And now I hear alot of Star Wars this, and Anakin that, and Darth Vader could do that, and light sabers can be this color, and make this noise….I have a feeling with 3 boys, we might be here for a very long time. 🙂
Georgie Porgie… from Emily Phillips on Vimeo.
That’s Elliot… making your day a little sweeter. 🙂
A blink of an eye.
It all started with a routine checkup. Lorelei was a little jaundiced, so at just 9 days old, we went in to re-test her biliruben levels. At the checkup, the Pediatrician listened to her heart…she heard a heart murmur, asked me about if they had heard this at the hospital, and then let me listen to it to…she was not too concerned, and she said I should not be concerned. BUT we needed to do some routine test, like checking her blood pressure before we left the office that day, and she’d see me in a couple of weeks at the next well child check up.
The nurse was sent in, and from the look in her eyes, as she did the test, and then re-preformed it, I could tell something was not normal. But no words were exchanged, but my mom radar was peaked.
Shortly there after our pediatrician returned. I’ve gotten to know her well, we’ve been with her practice for almost 8 years now…and I could tell something was really not right. She told me from the test levels, that something was not right, she told me, that Lorelei’s tests were not quite normal, and was going to give a couple of the local cardiologists a call for a second opinion. She knew they’d probably want to see us in the next day or two, to follow up with her heart, and then sent me over to the hospital to do blood work for her jaundice/billiruben levels. She said she’d be in touch after she consulted with the cardiologists.
I went to the hospital did the blood work, and started to head back to my good friend Diana’s house (she had my other 3 children, and I was going to pick them up). Right as I pulled in the driveway, my cell phone rang. It was our Pediatrician. As she talked, I am pretty sure I went into shock. She informed me she though our sweet new little tiny baby had a Coarcial Heart Defect, which would require immediate surgery. She asked if I could get up to SLC to Primary Children’s Hospital quickly, I replied yes I could. I don’t remember too much of the rest of the conversation, but she asked if she could call my husband, or if I knew how to get to the ER at Primary Children’s Hospital. She informed me that if Lorelei was to have a defect, that this was a good one to have, and that Lorelei was born so big and healthy, was a good eater, was gaining weight that there was a great outlook for her. I love our Pediatrican and was grateful for the reassurance she gave me in that moment.
The next few hours were a blur. I called Toph who was with his boss, carpooling home, and was going to meet me shortly at our house. I called my mom, tears streaming down my face, explained the situation, she rushed out the door, to relieve Diana of my children, as we were not sure how long we were going to be at the hospital. Then I called Diana, I was sitting in her driveway, I couldn’t go into her house, and let the children see me this way, she rushed out gave me a hug. Then she graciously sent me on my way, kept my children, and made dinner for our family that night.
I rushed home, grabbed a few essentials, then sat in our car at the end of the cul-de-sac impatiently waiting for Christopher to arrive. (I may have called him like 12 times wondering how close he was, if I could drive and meet him closer, etc).
Once he arrived, I drove as safe and quickly as I could. Christopher began to look up information about Coarcial heart defects on my phone (we discovered what coarcial meant: Basically she had a narrowing of the main valve in her heart), he gave Lorelei a priesthood blessing (how grateful I am for a worthy husband who was able to give her a blessing in a moment of need), and then make a flurry of phone calls, including to our Mom’s.
It was a long drive, and I did alot of praying.
We arrived at the ER, were quickly checked in, and the testing began. I don’t remember the order or exactly which/what tests were performed, but I do remember thinking how tiny she looked when she had all the probes hooked up to her body. There was barely enough room for them on her tiny little chest. There was also an immense feeling and sense of gratitude that we had such a great hospital nearby, more gratitude that our pediatrician had caught this early or before anything more extensive had happened, and gratitude for family and friends who were praying of us, and helping us.
The tests began, the first test was the blood pressure test that was done at the pediatrician’s office. And shockingly the results were completely opposite of the previous test.
(Christopher took these picture with my phone)
It was at this point, the doctors began to doubt that she had a Coarcial, but proceeded with the testing, wanting to find out why there was a murmur, and do more test to make sure it definetly wasn’t a Coarcial. A battery of tests began. The final test that was performed was an echo-cardiogram.
We headed thru a maze of hallways, and prepared for this test. It is like a ultrasound of your heart. And it wasn’t until I actually saw the pictures that I was reassured that our little girl was going to be okay, I felt I was able to breath again, and feel more calm (although I am not sure Christopher would tell you I was calm at all…). What a sigh of relief, thru these pictures, we were able to see that there was no Coarcial.
Also, with this echo-cardiogram we also discovered that the reason we heard a murmur was due to a few small holes in her heart, that were between her bottom two chambers. The Cardiologist informed us that these holes are in a muscle wall, and most likely heal up, and go together on their own. We were asked to return in a few months time to do further testing to make sure that they had healed up, and to continue checkups with our pediatrician. What Great News.
We returned to the ER to find my mother in law there, (yes we have wonderful family!) and the reality of everything beginning to sink in. What a whirlwind of 5 hours it had been.
What had just happened? With the news that our daughter was in no immediate danger, my mind began to race….was the testing that had happened at the pediatrician’s office that sent us racing off, been incorrect? Or had a miracle occurred? I don’t know if I will ever know the answers to those questions. But either way I do know that thru this ‘short adventure’ I became aware again of my Heavenly Fathers love for me, and my family. My testimony of the power of prayer and priesthood blessings was again strengthened, and again, I was again reminded of how blessed I am to have four healthy children.
We were discharged from the hospital, an after dinner in the cafeteria with my mother-in-law, Toph, Lorelei and I returned home late that night, to our home, where our children were all asleep, and well taken care of by my mom. And over the next few days, we were again showered with love, meals, support, prayers, phone calls, emails, and more from our family and friends.
A powerful reminder again that We lived a blessed life.
There haven’t been many posts lately…we’ve been a tad bit busy:
Kissing these cheeks
Holding and Cuddling this sweet swaddled package
Dressing Lorelei in pinks and frills
Putting in hairbows
Staring into her beautiful eyes
Enjoying sleepy gas smiles
Loving all the extra pink a little girl brings to our house,
Not to mention trying to keep up with the big brothers of the house!
Testing Christmas lights,
Putting up the ‘kids’ tree,
Getting the train around the tree,
Making sure the manager is ready for baby Jesus,
And the stockings are hung,
Just to name a few! How magical it is to have a new baby right before Christmas.