Silly Kids- 7/23/12- 7/25/12

Sometimes kids do the funniest or strangest things which often include something weird with their tongue.  When the girls spit we remind them that we don't do that and suddenly in the background we will hear Drew just spitting away.  It's kind of hard to get after him when he's a baby so he gets away with it.

Visit From Grandma Yee, Drew's First Solid Food- Rice Cereal- 7/8/12- 7/20/12

Here are some more pictures of the little ones along with Grandma Yee when she came for a visit.  Drew was most open to the rice cereal his first feeding and would just smile as it ran out of his mouth.  He still doesn't know what to do with the rice cereal and swallows maybe half a spoonful after a fifteen minute feeding.  He is to the point now where he purses his lips and swats at the spoon the whole time but hopefully he will catch on soon.

Drew's Surgery- 6/26/12

Drew was born with a cleft in his soft palate and because of that cleft he was getting fluid in his ears.  So from the very beginning we knew he was going to have his palate repaired and during his consultation for the surgery we found out he would need tubes in his ears as well.  So on the 26th of June we took him up to Primary Childrens Hospital  in Salt Lake and he was put under general anesthesia.  The surgeon was Dr. Harlan Muntz and he performed a palatoplasty (closed up the cleft by cutting the muscles and changing their direction from sitting vertically to horizontally so the cleft could be closed) and tympanostomy (fancy word for ear tubes).  Poor little Drew looked so swollen and out of it when he came out from surgery, he was not a happy boy.  They had placed a little suture on his tongue and taped it to his cheek (called a tongue stitch) just in case they needed to pull his tongue out for breathing purposes which added to his uncomfortable state.  It had to stay in until the next morning.  

It was suppose to be just an overnight stay but Drew wouldn't eat by the morning after the surgery so he had to be admitted and stay another night.  The only thing I could get him to drink was the milk that I would have to force feed him with a syringe and so they kept him another night after that so he could stay on the IV and be monitored.  Another day came and he still refused to drink from his bottle and so it was decided that he needed a feeding tube in and because we would be taking him home with it in the nurse gave me some instructions and then had me place the feeding tube in the poor boy just in case I had to do it again at home.  The surgery was on a Tuesday morning and finally on Friday afternoon we got to bring him home, still not drinking from a bottle but through a feeding tube.  After being home for a week and still having to use the feeding tube I finally decided I was just going to take the feeding tube out and lucky for us after going for six hours without eating and with much crying he finally drank from his bottle and after a few days of crying every time we tried to feed him he was back to normal and would just take a bottle without any fussing.  While I dreaded the whole process I am glad it is all over and done with.  It is amazing what that surgery did for him.  It use to take almost an hour to feed him each time because he couldn't suck or create a vacuum in his mouth and had to work really hard to get the milk out and now it takes about fifteen minutes for him to eat, it is wonderful for all of us!

These first pictures are before the surgery, hence the pleasant disposition. 

This is how he first looked coming out of the anesthesia.  The blue bands on his arms were called, "no nos", to keep him from grabbing his tongue stitch.

Jordan and I took turns staying at the hospital with Drew and the girls had a couple of visits as well.

I do think it is funny and cute how they have such little hospital gowns.  Our sweet, brave little boy:)

Peterson Family Pictures- 6/22/12

Amanda was getting ready to leave on her mission and it had been a long time since we did a big Peterson family picture so everyone coordinated clothing and set a date and we did it.  Cami's friend/roommate Mariah came down for the weekend and took some great pics.

Laying Sod- 7/10/12

The great day of sod laying came and was so welcomed.  And once again our wonderful family, friends, neighbors and even some from the ward came and helped.  It took longer than I think we all anticipated.  But with 11,000sf of sod I guess it makes sense.   We didn't put any sod on the outside of our bike track- were leaving that area for a playset, garden, fruit trees, flower beds and whatever else we can come up with in the future.  

Baby Drew and Fires Close By- 6/19/12- 6/24/12

These are just a few pictures of our little bubba Drew that I thought we'd share.  This summer has been really dry so there have been a lot of fires all throughout Utah including fires in Saratoga Springs which was close enough that it made the air and our clothes smell like smoke for a few days and made the sky dark.  Madolyn was scared of the red sun and wouldn't go outside and play that day.

Girls and Mud- 6/18/12

There are some good things that come with moving into a brand new home and some bad things.  The yard or lack of yard being one of them.  No trees, no flowers and of course no grass- this means anytime there is any water this is what we have.  Mud, mud and more mud.  For the girls this is the good thing that comes with the new house.  Especially Avery who even spent a few minutes sitting waist deep right in the middle of the mud lake.  At the end of their party I had to hose them off which they loved as well.  I would start to spray them and they would run off screaming and then come back for more.