October

I can't believe that the month of October is gone already! Life with 2 busy boys and a newborn is crazy but wonderful.

Cohen has made GREAT improvements in the sleep department. I have only been getting up with him once a night and that makes for one pretty happy mom. Last night he made it all the way from 10:00 pm to 5:00 am!!! I hope that becomes routine very soon.


Sunday October 11th was a big day for our family. It was Cohen's blessing day. Chad did a wonderful job, as we all knew that he would, and it was great to spend time with our families and close friends. Big huge thank you to Ken and Becky for the yummy luncheon that they provided after the blessing. We are still eating leftovers!

I put my brother, Luke, in charge of the camera. Apparently he was afraid to get pictures of anyone who was not in his immediate family...

Here he is with Cohen:


Chad and I:


My cute (and available) little sister, Laura, with Cohen:


Handsome Nixin:


My dad and Debbie with Cohen:


Cohen on his big day:


Luke with our Grandpa:


And the 3 boys at the end of our busy day:


October also brought with it a preschool field trip to the pumpkin patch. Nixin had a great time playing on the tractors, running through the corn maze and choosing himself and Jack a pumpkin.






The first snow fall of the season arrived and made for 2 super happy little boys! I have mixed feelings about the snow. I love being in the house watching it with my slippers and hot cocoa. But, I greatly dislike it when I have to drive in it, shovel it, or drag my kids out into it.


The cold weather meant coming up with fun indoor activities for the boys. The biggest hit so far: Salt Dough. All it takes is 2 c. flour, 1 c. salt, 3/4-1 c. water, and a few drops of food coloring. They have spent hours playing with this stuff!




The month of October just wouldn't be complete without a trip to visit the witches at Gardner Village!






And we just couldn't forget Halloween! The boys had a blast trick or treating with their friends Dorian, Jane, and Catherine. We have enough candy to last us a year!

Our Week

I have sure had a hard time keeping up with my blog! The season has quickly changed, bringing on cold weather and lots of yummy fall foods, our family has certainly changed, tossing my world upside down, and I'm not quite sure where it goes, but time is sure flying by.

I fell in love this week. A few of my friends in my old neighborhood bought me a baby gift that I treasure. I will admit that I didn't know if I would even like it, but it has been my lifesaver more than once since I figured out how to use it! It is a Bugaroo Baby Sling. Cohen nestles right in that thing and falls asleep. If you are interested in a Bugaroo, check out the website. It is www.bugaroobaby.com.


Now I would like to recap the Williams family highlights from this past week, and here it goes:

Sunday (9-27-09)
Apple Crisp

Here is the BEST Apple Crisp recipe ever! Chad hates baked fruit, but he'll down this any day.


10 cups all-purpose apples, peeled, cored and sliced
1 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 dash of nutmeg

2 cup quick-cooking oats
2 cup all-purpose flour
2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degree C).
Place the sliced apples in a 9x13 inch pan. Mix the white sugar, 1 tablespoon flour ground cinnamon and nutmeg together, and sprinkle over apples.
Combine the oats, 2 cups flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda and melted butter together. Crumble evenly over the apple mixture.
Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for about 45 minutes.

Monday (9-28-09)
Fruit Dip

We were invited to our neighbors house for dinner tonight. We brought along fruit and fruit dip to share. I was reminded how much I LOVE this dip. I was eating it by the spoonfuls. It is easy and fabulous.


1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese, softened
1 (8 oz.) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
1 (7 oz.) jar marshmallow cream

Combine ingredients in a mixing bowl until smooth. Chill and serve with fruit.

Tuesday (9-29-09)
Thanksgiving Point Farm

It was time, once again, for Mrs. Amee's annual Thanksgiving Point Farm field trip. Nixin was super excited about it and had a lot of fun there.



Wednesday (9-30-09)
Molasses Cookies

My friend Shandell is a great cook. She makes the world's best chili, and would you believe that she drove to my house from Riverton just to drop off a bowl for me. Some of you might not think that is too big of a deal, but I do. Chad hates beans, and will not eat chili, so I never get to make it. This particular week, I was craving chili. Really craving it. And here she comes. What a great friend.

Anyways, I got side tracked. Nothing says fall to me like Shandell's Molasses cookies. They melt in your mouth. I absolutely love them and so I must share this recipe too.


2 eggs
1 ¼ c. shortening
2 c. sugar
½ c. molasses
2 tsp. ground cloves
2 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. ginger
1 tsp. salt
4 tsp. baking soda
3 3/4 c. flour

Cream together the eggs, shortening, sugar, and molasses. Slowly mix in dry ingredients. Roll into balls and roll in extra sugar. Place on cookie sheet and flatten with a cup. Bake at 375 for 10 minutes.

Thursday (10-1-09)
Thrush

My boobs were KILLING me, to the point of tears rolling down my face when I was feeding Cohen. I got online looking for solutions to my problem when I came across a site that mentioned that my problem might just be Thrush.

Thrush is a yeast infection that for one reason or another develops in the baby's mouth, causing white spots on their tongue, cheeks, gums and lips. I had noticed that Cohen had a white tongue, but thought it was just "milk tongue". After reading the article, I tried scraping the white stuff off, and guess what- nothing came off.

So, back up to the doctor's office we went and sure enough, it was Thrush. Unfortunately the doctor said it is very painful for the baby (as well as mom!) and said that he would probably be grumpy for a couple of days. But the good news was that there is medicine for us both and we got started on it right away. The spots have started to disappear and will hopefully be gone soon.



Friday (10-2-09)
Hyrum

We spent today in Hyrum and my dad and Debbie's house. It is great there, so peaceful and fun. I love for my kids to go there and experience the country life. It is so different up there than it is down here. They rode horses, drove the tractor (riding lawn mower), and picked apples from the apple trees. We finished our day trip up with a yummy turkey dinner. Gotta love Hyrum!










Saturday (10-3-09)
Ice Cream

After eating a late lunch, we decided that it would be okay to have ice cream for dinner. We stopped in to our local Baskin Robbins, a place that we have not frequently gone to in the past. It was yummy! I found a new favorite flavor, Jamoca Almond Fudge, mmm.... I say that ice cream for dinner is a great idea!



Sunday (10-4-09), Monday (10-5-09), and Tuesday (10-6-09)
Waaa! Waaah!

Wow! This Thrush thing makes a grumpy baby. Cohen has cried so much the past couple of days that he is starting to drive me batty. He wants to eat, poop, be held and be held while he sleeps. He is not giving his mommy much of a break. I feel so bad for him and hope to have this past us soon! Oh well to showers, dishes, clean sheets, etc. I'll get around to them one day :)

1 Month

We took Cohen in for his 1 month well child check yesterday. Dr. Lei wanted us to come in so that he could check on Cohen's bilirubin levels. He took one look at him and said "I don't even want to poke him today. The jaundice is clearly gone." Woo Hoo! His color is looking awesome, but it is so nice to hear the doctor say that after going there time after time and hearing otherwise. Cohen already weighs 11 lbs. 7 oz. and was 23" long. He is growing so fast! Now we just need him to sleep longer than 2 hour stretches during the night so his mom isn't such a zombie!

Newborn Pictures

This week my friend Carrie came over and took some darling pictures of Cohen. We LOVE them and couldn't be more happy with them. You can view the rest of the pictures on Carrie's website:

http://carriebutlerphotography.smugmug.com/Client-Viewing/Cohen/9724448_tVUFu#657973845_wMfXf

Cohen and a Fat Lip

I have a couple more pictures to share of our sweet little baby. Cohen has had a bit of a cold but with the help of a bugar sucker and a humidifier, he is hanging in there. We love him so much.



Nixin had a run in with the tile yesterday. I need to try to remember to re-teach my kids how to walk/run in socks on the tile floor at the beginning of fall each year. Turns out that it's a little slippery. Nixin biffed it pretty hard but after we cleaned up all of the blood, all that was left was a fat lip.

A Few Cute Pics

Things are good at the Williams' house. I just wanted to share a couple of my favorite pictures from the past couple of days. Cohen's color seems to have improved quite a bit, you can see it in the last picture- I just took it this morning. Hope everyone out in the blogging world is well!

Eighteen Something

Yesterday at Cohen's 2 week well child visit with Dr. Lei, we discussed the things that have been happening with Cohen and his jaundice. It has been 1 week of being on the lights, adding even more lights than we started off with, Cohen gaining over an ounce a day, pooping regularly, etc. They poked Cohen's foot again and Dr. Lei left for a few minutes. When he came back, he told us the discouraging news that Cohen's bilirubin levels were still right there at 19. He agreed that the hours and hours of lights did not seem to be making a difference.
However, he did seem very confident that he knew just what was going on. He believes that Cohen has Breast Milk Jaundice, a condition where the liver has a hard time breaking down the bilirubin in breast milk.
The plan was this: Go off of the lights for a good 24 hours and come back in for another blood test.
We did just that and in addition we added 2 or 3 formula bottles to Cohen's diet for the day and moved his bassinet into the direct sunlight. We went back in tonight. They expected that his levels would have gone up some, just hoping that they didn't go too far without the lights. Much to every one's surprise, Cohen's level was at an eighteen something!!! (Chad asked me later that night what exactly Cohen's level was. We both knew it was eighteen point something, but both of us were so excited when we heard the number eighteen that we stopped listening to the rest.)
Now we get to have a normal life without the lights. We go back in two weeks to make sure that his numbers have stayed where they need to be. Dr. Lei said to keep breast feeding and even though our baby is still yellow, he would be fine. We are happy.

Preschool 2009

Fifteen days ago we made a paper chain. We had to. Nixin was asking me ever hour when exactly he got to start preschool. It worked perfectly. This morning Nixin got to break the last piece of his chain and was thrilled that it was finally his first day of preschool.


He did great and is so happy to be back at Mrs. Amee's Preschool. He is especially excited to have some of his neighborhood friends in his class this year. Here he is on his first day:

Stupid Jaundice

What a bummer! Cohen's bilirubin levels went up from two days ago when we were in the doctor's office. He was now at a 20. Do all of these hours spent under the lights really make a difference??? I am starting to wonder.

Cohen got poked AGAIN:


My yellow 9 lb. 5 oz. baby:

Cohen's First Week

Finally induction day was here! After arriving to the hospital 1/2 hour later than we were supposed to due to a traffic accident, fainting because of my great needle phobia...twice, lots of ice chips, a People magazine, two doses of antibiotics, a great epidural, and a long day for my super supportive hubby, Cohen Robert Williams made his way into our world. He was born at 4:51 pm weighing in at a whopping 8 lbs. 14 oz. and was 21" long. What a joy it was to finally meet him!


Jack and Nixin were thrilled to finally meet their new baby brother. Thanks to a wonderful Grandma Becky for taking such great care of them while I was out!

Here is Nixin holding his baby brother for the first time:

And Jack:

Later that night, after our dear families had come to visit our new addition, the nurse gave Cohen his first bath:

Seriously, is there anything more perfect than this?



DAY 1
Today was really not very eventful. We just hung out in our room resting and recuperating from the day before. Chad had gone home to be with Jack and Nixin for the night. I would have liked to have been there too, but because I had tested positive for Strep B, the pediatrician wanted Cohen to stay at the hospital for 48 hours. I kept my camera close and got a few pictures:


All of my boys:




This is a picture of Cohen with my grandpa, Robert Fayle Huddleston, one of the Robert's in which Cohen gets his middle name:


And here is a picture of my family. The man in the back with the orange hat is my dad, Robert Fayle Huddleston Jr., the other Robert where Cohen's middle name comes from.





DAY 2
Woo Hoo! Even though our stay at Alta View Hospital was a great one, we were SO ready to come home. We dressed Cohen out of his white hospital shirt into a cute little outfit and packed him up really good in his new car seat. Off we went.




The first cute little outfit didn't last too long. The second we got home and tried to change his diaper...well, you know. Needless to say, we had another cute outfit in the dresser.


Cohen is so lucky to have two big brothers who adore him. Jack and Nixin are adjusting much better than I expected. They love him.


The Boppy has been the best thing ever! It makes it so easy for the boys to hold the baby. Nixin seriously held Cohen that night for at least 45 minutes.



DAY 3
More family visits today. Our families have been so wonderful and supportive. We are grateful for all of you! Cohen had his first "sponge bath" today. He didn't love it, but we made it through. One of the best smells on the planet- fresh bathed baby!







DAY 4
Cohen got to go to his first doctor's appointment today. His bilirubin levels in the hospital were a little higher than they should have been, so we needed to go back today and have them re-checked. It was pretty traumatic. The girl who poked his little heel really struggled with getting enough blood, but after about 10 minutes of rubbing his leg she had just enough. It broke my heart, but both of us made it! The good news was that Cohen weighed in at 8 lbs. 10 oz., only a small drop from his birth weight. The bad news was that his bilirubin levels had increased a little bit and we needed to come back in 48 hours to have them re-checked. In addition to the bili check, Cohen was circumcised and had to have his umbilical cord cauterized because it was oozy. What a rough day!



DAY 5
Plenty of feedings, poopy diapers, and cuddles today. Cohen is a great baby. We all love him so much and are so happy that he is here. Our first day home Murphy, our dog, had a really hard time with Cohen. She sure has warmed up to him now. She is right by his side at every little whimper that he makes and she snuggles up to him as close as we will let her. It really is pretty cute.



DAY 6
Back to the doctor we go today for another bilirubin test. Cohen bled much better this time and it was much less traumatic for both baby and mom. Today Cohen weighed 9 lbs., he had gained 6 ounces since Monday! He does eat really good. Bad news though...Cohen's bilirubin levels had shot up to a 19.4. That is high. High enough that we needed to start light therapy right away. So, we came home from the doctor's office and put him right under the lights. He has adjusted well to them, thank goodness! It is killing me to have him lay there all the time. I just want to cuddle with that cute little thing all day long. But, it is what we need to do and it will be past us soon.



DAY 7
Happy one week birthday Cohen! It is amazing the love and connection that you can feel toward someone in such a short amount of time. I am so blessed to be a mother. I love my children more than I could ever explain.
It was bilirubin check up day again. In just one day Cohen managed to pack on another 3 ounces, bringing his current weight to 9 lbs. 3 oz. He's growing so fast already! Cohen's levels had dropped a tiny bit to a 18.8, which is good...but not good enough to get him out of those darn lights. Our doctor instructed us to keep him on them through Saturday afternoon and then go in for yet another blood test. Keep your fingers crossed for us!