Last month in a nutshell

Here are a few...okay more than a few pictures of the last few weeks...



Daily morning time eating Cheerios



When Grandma Givens is in town...the grandkids get the special mall treatment!





B in his Friday class leading the song of the day

B is so excited about our new flowers

Celebrating B's birthday in his Monday class with his friends

Blowing out his candle in his Friday class

Disneyland with Papa

B loves airplanes

B's favorite shopping cart at the store (huge and hard to turn, but worth the fun they have together in it)

We got B a bike for his birthday (his first real bike)!

Celebrating his birthday in his Wednesday class

B's 3 year old Dr. appt. He was able to bring his monkey with him (which he is only allowed to sleep with).... Monkey went with him to his CT scan and will be with him for his upcoming surgeries

Joel's mom came to town to watch the kiddos while Joel and I were able to go to Vegas for a few days. This was what I did most afternoons :)

Waiting for the train for grandma to take

Watering our flowers

My big 3 year old

My adorable 1 year old

B and Faith at Disneyland with Grandma and Papa

Happy Girl

B's favorite ride with Papa

Dumbo fun

Day out with Thomas in Fillmore

Pnut with Auntie Jen

Faith's first hair cut done by Auntie Beth (Joel's sister)

Bubbles with Grandma

Mother's Day at the park

Fun with Uncle Bob

B's birthday party with friends and family

Yummy cupcake!

Love my boy, can't believe he is 3

Mickey Mouse themed party...his favorite cartoon!

Our church had a concert and they let the kids try the instruments after. B had a blast trying them! He loves music! Drums are his favorite so far

Trying out the trumpet

Violin time

Trying the harp

B's graduation day in his class. He has been going to this class for 1 1/2 years. I can't believe this day has already come. Both Grandma's were able to go!

His scrapbook his teachers made for him containing pictures since he was 18 months old

Such a happy boy!

Pnut and Grandma at snack time

Blowing out his candle on his donut hole :)

B loves snack time

So, Faith turned 1... B turned 3... and in between that I turned, well, let's just say that I had a birthday too.

Joel and I got to go to Vegas for 5 days WITHOUT the kiddos. Joel had classes for work to attend so I tagged along. He had classes from 9-4ish everyday so that gave me time to just workout and layout. I was able to meet him for his 1 1/2 hour lunch break every day and we were able to go to movies and nice dinners at night. It was such an amazing time to reconnect and we thank Joel's mom for watching our kiddos for us!

B has been attending classes on Wednesdays and Fridays for 1 1/2 years through a program offered for children with a variety of special needs. We have enjoyed the past 18 months so much and have met so many wonderful parents and amazing children. Brennan, Joel and I have gained lifelong friends through the program. It is sad that he graduated but we know it is time for him to move on to preschool.

Update on Faith: she is doing awesome! Her hospital stay was almost 3 weeks ago. She is like a whole different child now. She is eating great, sleeping great and much happier. I can't wait for her 15 month appointment (next month) to see how much she has gained!

Oh, and watch out...she is almost walking!

Next adventure: Potty training B. Wish me luck :)

Great-Grandparents

We just had Brennan's 3rd Birthday Party...I know...3??? Already??? I will post some party pictures soon, but here is one that just melts my heart. Here is B with his Great-Grandparents...
Love it!

Pnut's hospital adventure

Wow...what an adventure. In case you haven't heard, our lil Pnut stayed in the hospital from 12:00pm Tuesday till 4:00pm Thursday. It was only 3 days but it felt like 3 weeks. We went to Tarzana Hospital with the advice of our pediatrician. In a nut shell, Faith had been going on almost 1 1/2 months of not consuming any liquids except a few sips of water during the day. Her appetite had also been decreasing the past few weeks. She had always been a fussy baby (horrible colic the first 6 months) but she was increasingly uncomfortable and fussy the past couple weeks. She had a double ear infection last week and developed a rash, which we found out was from the antibiotic. She was dropping weight and she was already underweight. We had weekly visits to the dr. and her weight was getting less and less. She had become lethargic and had been either sleeping or crying throughout the day. I went to the dr. to discuss more of these issues and they recommended that we go to the hospital that day. I immediately made arrangements for B (thanks Becky Parsons, my sister Jen and my mom for watching him the past 3 days!) and packed a few things and made my way to the hospital. Joel met me there and we admitted her.
After speaking with the hospital pediatrician, we made the conclusion that we need to get her insides checked out. They set her up on an iv (horrible experience) and got us a room with a metal crib. We let friends and family know (thanks to texting and facebook...LOVE technology these days) and everyone began praying! They did bloodwork that night and began weighing her diapers. Of course, each time someone who remotely looked like a nurse, dr. etc... came in the room, our sweet Faith immediately began screaming her head off. Poor Pnut, it was a very traumatic experience for her. They did more bloodwork Wed. morning and started x-rays in the afternoon. Joel had the "pleasant" experience of being in radiology with her and holding her down as they forced a tube down her nose that went into her throat to her stomach. They pumped in liquid and took multiple x-rays to check out her anatomy. All of this was while she was awake. I sat in the room next door and listened to my little baby scream... it was horrible. After about 25 minutes of this, we were able to hang out with her in the hallway. For the next 2 hours they took x-rays every 15 minutes. After about 3 hours we got the report that her anatomy looks great! We are so thankful that her insides look good. That has been a concern of ours since her birth. The GI pediatrician talked with us that night about other tests that could rule out other issues. The one we decided on was the scope test. It was a sedated test that was about 15 minutes long and the dr. used a scope that went down her esophagus to her stomach to look for any irregularities or inflammation. He also took a few biopsies and we will get those results on Monday. We had the scope test done on Thursday afternoon. After her recovery she was able to slowly start eating and they finally took out her IV! The pediatrician discussed that her scope test looked great and we should hear about the blood, urine, stool and biopsy tests by Monday. We were finally able to be discharged.


Oh my, what a process. I am so thankful that Faith is fine and the tests looked good! We are going to work with a dietitian to get more calories in her and work on getting milk and pediasure in her. She is one picky and tough cookie...but after all this, I'd rather have a stubborn Pnut than a sick one with serious issues. Thank you to all our friends and family for their prayers and continued support through this process.


It definitely brought Joel and I closer and made me appreciate our lil Pnut so much more. She and I bonded so much over those 3 days. When she was little, she never wanted to be held. She had to be swaddled to calm her down and only the swing would keep her from crying. These past 3 days consisted of rocking her, hugging her, cuddling with her and our lil Pnut sleeping on me. It was such a special time and I even feel so much closer to her now. It's weird how a hospital visit can do that.

It's Friday and she slept great last night and I mixed pediasure and formula in her oatmeal and she downed it! Now she is napping. I know she has probably already forgotten about the hospital trauma, but I know that I will never forget how it has made me closer to her and appreciate her so much more.