Merry Christmas!!

We had a busy and fun Christmas this year.  Kayla really got into Santa this year and it was super, super fun!  One day when she was playing with Graydon she said that Pirates were attacking the North Pole and she had to go save Santa!  I love her imagination!  Christmas Eve was  spent with Graydon's family eating amazing food and playing Bingo.  Then we got home and the kids got on there Christmas jammies.  Of course I had to get the picture of them under the tree that me and my brothers have from our childhood.  Aren't they so stinking cute!?

 

Kayla went to bed super late so it was nice that she didn't wake up until 8:30 Christmas morning.  Me and Graydon were up and waiting for her because we were so excited.  It took Kayla about 3 seconds before she realized what the day was then we  were off.  Here she is checking out the magic from the stairs as we gather everyone.  We had a big group this year it was us and my parents, my brother Bryan and my Aunt Jo.  It was lots of fun with everyone there.

 

Santa left Kayla a note thanking her for the cookies and the carrots.  She was more excited to see the carrots gone and that the reindeer had eaten them.

 

You can see Carter with his toy from Santa in the background.  It actually was a toy that my Aunt Maria gave us for Kayla but it's still in such good condition that it was a great gift for him.  Carter really enjoys laying under it and looking at everything.  But this is also the picture of Kayla opening the present she asked for from Santa.  Her tea set.

 

Aunt Jo with Carter.  I know she won't be happy I posted this picture but I liked it and to show that she was there. 

 

Kayla "helped" everyone with their gifts.  She would bring them their presents then as soon as they grabbed it she would start ripping off the paper.  She is the pro gift opener now.

 

Carter enjoying his new play gym.

 

The Christmas bomb, as I like to call it.  It wasn't until the next day that we were able to get most of it put away but there is still stuff that hasn't found a home.

 

It was a wonderful time with family and I'm sad to see it go.  I couldn't get Kayla to look at the camera at all because she was so busy all day but she loved Christmas!

New recipe

So I have to share this one because it was so yummy!  Graydon was asking me how to make pulled chicken and so I googled to look for a recipe.  I found this one and it looked simple enough to try and it was super easy.  I doubled the recipe to feed 5 adults and Kayla and it worked out great.  We put them in tacos and even got out the black beans to make it even better.  I think this one is going to be one of the recipes we use a lot from now on.  I didn't take pictures of our tacos but this is the picture that came with the recipe but I think ours looked much taster.

Mexican Pulled Chicken Recipe
Yield: 2-4 servings
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 onion roughly chopped
1 heaping teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
salt and pepper
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
3/4 cup salsa (homemade is better but jarred is fine for a quick dinner!)
1 cup chicken stock
1/2 lime juiced
In a heavy pot with a lid heat olive oil to medium and add onion, cumin, chili powder and a big pinch of salt and pepper. Cook onion, stirring regularly until it starts to soften. Add chicken, salsa and chicken stock and bring to a simmer. Cover and cook for 15-20 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.
Remove chicken from pot and set aside. While chicken cools bring the sauce to a simmer, uncovered and reduce by half. When the chicken is cool enough shred it with two forks. Stir chicken back into sauce and reduce heat to low. Add lime juice. Taste and adjust for seasoning.

This is the blog I got the recipe from I'm hoping that it will have many more good recipes for me.
http://www.handletheheat.com/

Sleeping

Carter is a champion sleeper!  He sleeps a lot more than I remember Kayla sleeping.  I love the below picture of him taking a nap with Graydon!

 This is how we found him sleeping that same day just a little later.  It makes me laugh cause his pants are hiked up and he looks like a little man.

 

Carter is now over 10 lbs!  This is great because the biggest concern with his cleft is that he wouldn't be able to eat enough to gain weight.  Not only is he eating enough but he doesn't need the special nipples on his bottles and uses the normal ones!  He's one tough cookie!

Thanksgiving- Lots of pictures of the kids.

So I'm horrible and didn't take any pictures of actual Thanksgiving with Graydon's family but it was lots of fun.  My mother in law cooked the most amazing turkey I've ever had!  I just kept eating it and it didn't need any gravy or anything it was just so yummy!  I hope one day I can be as good as a cook as she is.  Kayla loved being around all of her cousins and Carter was happy to just be held by everyone.  The kids looked so cute that day that I made an effort to take some pictures of them.  I am not very good at taking pictures so I am happy with how they turned out because they were better than most of my pictures.  Maybe I will get some professional pictures taken of the kids one day after we have paid all the medical bills.

 

Doesn't he look so handsome in his nice button up shirt.

 

Daddy had to work that morning so he was sleepy when he got home and Carter was ready to cuddle with his Daddy.

 

The last picture just shows the difference between the two kids right now.  Kayla so full of energy and Carter sleeping away.  She was actually being a lion and he didn't even budge.  Oh and the picture of me was actually taken by Kayla.  She loves taking pictures and being in pictures.  She does pretty good it always impresses me what her pictures turn out like.

One week

Yep Carter is one week old and he is such a blessing!  He hasn't had any problems eating and when I weighed him today he's back to his birth weight!  This is great news since failure to thrive is the biggest problem with babies with a cleft pallet.  Kayla is still in love with her brother and is always asking for her baby to sit by her or to hold him.  This is how I often find her when he is sitting next to her.

Kayla is doing great with her brother but is having a little bit of a hard time not having the social interactions she is use to.  I have been trying to keep her busy with crafts but with adjusting to having a new baby it's been a little rough at times.  The week Carter was born it was beautiful with high 60's and clear skies, this week rain and snow mixed and freezing.  So it's not like I can really take her outside with Carter being so little so we have played a lot of hide and seek.

The nice thing is even though it's strange to me that I have two children now it seems so right.  Carter is our boy and he's suppose to be with us and Kayla is a great big sister.  It's all very surreal.  I made these onesies for Carter with ties on them.  I think he looks so cute in them.

Carter is here!

 

 Carter William was born November 2nd at 3:15 pm.  While trying to clean him up the nurses noticed that is very difficult to suction out the fluid he had swallowed.  When looking at the back of his throat there was a very small opening in the back.  They were very concerned that he wasn't going to get enough oxygen and be able to eat.  So they whisked him away from me to the nursery to make sure he was going to be okay.  Once they pediatrician looked at him they discovered that he actual has a cleft pallet.  It's only on the soft pallet and in the very back.  Well the hospital we were at did not have the equipment and to take care of him so they decided to transport him to Primary Childrens.  I was very lucky to be able to hold him and see him before they took him by ambulance.  Here is a picture of him before they took him away.  

 

It looks a really scary but he was just being monitored and nothing else.  He was breathing well on his own and happy as a clam.  Once he was there the nurse called me to let me know that he had arrived safe and to ask me if it was okay to give him a bottle.  I said of course because of if he's eating he's getting better.

 

He ate really good and

 they gave him a bath.  He loved having his hair washed!!!  What a handsome boy I've got!  So I was released the next day from my hospital and I went as fast as I could to Primary's.  I felt so much better once I was there with Carter.  They had given me a sleeping pill to help me sleep the night before, great idea or I probably would have not slept.

Carter will have to a surgery to fix the cleft pallet but only one! This was fantastic news!  He will need to do speak therapy but in all it's the best case scenario for a cleft pallet.  As long as he is gaining weight and eating good we won't have to do the surgery until he's around 8 months. 

 

Carter got a new hat from my mother in-law.  Graydon was very excited can you guess why?

 

We even got to spend some time with him while he was awake.  He has beautiful eyes!

 

And the best part of all was he finally got to meet his big sister!!  Kayla was super excited.  She would hold him a little bit then let someone else hold him then she would hold him again.  She couldn't hold still.  Then me and Graydon took her to dinner in the cafeteria, just us.  She really enjoyed that.  She just loves her little brother.

REALLY?!!!!

So went to the doctor yesterday for my final doctors appointment and I'm at a 4 and 80% effaced!  Really!! My doctor is out of town so I was seeing one of his partners and he looked at me like, Why aren't you in labor.  I don't know why I'm not in labor but it's ridiculous to me too.  So either this boy is super stubborn and we are waiting until Tuesday or he's really super nice and letting me get my laundry done and my house cleaned before he comes.  I am trying to look at it like the second one.  So it looks like we are going to wait until Tuesday.  Oh here's a picture of me today just a few days from having my baby boy.