Happy 3rd Birthday Miss Colbie!

 

Can’t believe our baby girl is three already!  She has become such a little spit fire these days.  She’s either hot or cold… there is no in between!  Everything… and I mean EVERYTHING must be done BY SELF and all hell… and I really mean ALL HELL breaks loose if not!  My mom says I was exactly the same way, but I just can imagine I could have been THAT difficult :) Ha Ha!  When Miss Colbie doesn’t get her way, she really knows how to show it, kicking, screaming, hair pulling, biting….you name it.  I’m sure our neighbors think we perform exorcisms at our house several times a day!  These fits are usually either a result of us, God forbid, trying to HELP her with something, or of course, if we used the most forbidden word in a toddler’s vocabulary – NO!  Luckily her tantrums are short lived, but you literally feel like you’ve been thrown through a tornado after watching her! 

Fortunately, Colbie is not always throwing a fit and when she’s not, she really is so much fun to be around.  For one, she’s a total clown and goofball, making funny faces, dancing silly and always trying to get a laugh from someone.  Two, she is such a diva and always talks with her hands on her hips about how big she, what she did at school that day (even though she doesn’t go to school) and of other various “big girl” activities!  She LOVES to sing, usually songs that she makes up herself of whatever she happens to be looking at or doing at that particular moment.  You’d think she was from New York or Boston too with her little accent when she talks about her “pawrty” (party) and needing to take her “puurs” (purse) to the “pawrty!”  Other favorite Colbieisms are her love of “peckarroni” pizza and “aminals.”  Mostly though, Colbie is the BIGGEST sweetheart, my “best friend,” tells you all the time that she loves you “SOOOOO much” and she definitely gives the best hugs of the family, practically knocking you over and squeezing you with her death grip.  I love this girl so much and as much as she drives me crazy some days, I never take for granted how lucky I am to have her.  Happy Birthday Colbie Elaine!

We were all about Hello Kitty for her birthday “pawrty.”  For the past several weeks, every word out of Colbie’s mouth had something to do with Hello Kitty and who was coming to her “pawrty!”  It was supposed to be just a “girl pawrty,” but we convinced her to let her brothers, grandpas and uncles come too!  She ended up being just fine with that :)

Even though given the circumstances, we kept it to a very small party, we still had to have a piñata!  What’s a Morris birthday party without a “hiyatta?!”  Colbie scared us all with the incredible amount of rage and force she used to beat the heck out of her hiyatta!  She even had a karate kid-like grunt going on!  Thinking maybe a punching bag may be a good gift for her next year!

Colbie had her 3 year check up and Jed had his one month check up last week with Dr. Crawford.  Colbie is a tall three year old, measuring almost 40 inches and landing in the 90th percentile!  And baby Jed has gained 3 pounds since birth, weighing in at 9.10 pounds!

I had to get the little chunker in his Laguna Beach lifeguard onsie for a picture with brother & sister before he outgrows it!

Snuggles with DeeDee & Jed.

Grayson still loves to work with his tools and build things.  Blaine and him built and painted this little house from scratch the other day.  We then had to decorate it for Christmas!

Our newest little turkey and his diva sister on Thanksgiving day!

Ryan and Kim hosted a beautiful thanksgiving dinner this year. This was also Jed’s first real outing! Other than to his doctor appointments, we don’t let the little guy out much.  Being that it was such a small group and there weren’t any other germy kids running around (other than my own), we decided to get out as a family of five for the first time.  Jed was a trooper and slept almost the entire time, even letting mama finish her dinner!

One of Ryan’s delicious deep fried turkeys!

DeeDee held her newest great grandson for the first time!

Best buds…. most of the time!!!

Twylah got us the coolest gift ever!  Such a fun and awesome reminder of our very own miracle piggy!  And a huge thanks to Great Aunt Annie, Jed now has his very own Christmas stocking!

Can’t believe there are just a little over two weeks till Christmas!

Welcome Jed Blaine Morris!

At just 2 days shy of his due date, Jed finally made his appearance into this world on November 2, 2013, weighing in at 6.11 lbs and 19 3/4 inches long! He followed his brother & sister’s lead by arriving on the 2nd of the month, with Grayson on September 2nd and Colbie on December 2nd!  Pretty crazy!! 2-2-2!!!  He shocked all of us by making it to almost 40 weeks and continues to amaze us daily with how much he’s been through and overcome thus far.  He was an incredibly fast, INTENSE, all natural, (epidural free!) labor, which was immediately forgotten the minute I got to see him, hear him scream & hold him in my arms.  Jed was ready to come into this world on his own terms, at his own time and show us all what a little toughie and true miracle he is!

This picture was taken just minutes before my water broke!  I was actually scheduled to be induced Friday evening at the hospital, but as I made my way to the front desk to check in, I wasn’t even mid-sentence on telling the lady my name & why I was checking in when my water broke right there at the desk!  His timing couldn’t have been better!  I think this may have been Jed’s way of saying, “let me do this on my own Mama!”

Poor guy (and yes, poor Mama!) came out “sunny side up,” which, as the nurses explained is why I may have had more back labor and also why Jed’s face and fingers were so bruised.

One of my favorite pictures…. getting to meet their little bro for the first time.  Grayson had what he calls “happy tears.” Melted my heart!

Grammy & Papa saying goodbye before taking kids home to Yuma.

Jed’s pimped out shuttle ride from Good Sam to Phoenix Children’s Hospital.

At just four days old, Jed underwent a heart catheterization, perforation & ballooning of his pulmonary valve.  His procedure lasted just a little over three hours.  We are still so incredibly impressed an amazed with the team of doctors that worked on him at PCH.  This picture was taken just an hour or so following his procedure!  While he was under general anesthesia during the cath, he came back to the NICU pretty alert and just mildly “squeaking.”  And other than some bruising in his groin area where they inserted the catheter, you would never know he had his heart operated on.  Simply incredible!

Following his procedure, they took him off the Prostaglandins which ensured adequate oxygen circulation for the short term.  He will now be on oxygen until his little heart can heal, relax and hopefully start to circulate enough oxygen on it’s own.  Amazingly, only two days after his catheterization and after only having IV nutrition for the first week of his life, they gave me the green light to start nursing.  Little man picked it right up like a champ and is doing awesome!  This is another HUGE blessing, as we were under the impression that he may require a feeding tube for some time before becoming strong enough to eat on his own. 

First walk out outside the hospital using a portable oxygen tank and our room at the NICU.

Once at Phoenix Children’s, we were able to stay at the Ronald McDonald House right on campus. It was very convenient being that it was just a five minute walk to & from Jed’s room and was a quiet place to rest, decompress and shower.

Going home finally to brother & sister!!!

HOME AT LAST!  Lots of adjustments for everyone….especially the kiddos.  As wonderful as everything is turning out, I know this is a tough time for them.  They are little troopers though, washing & sanitizing their hands every time we ask, being careful not to trip over all the oxygen lines and showing so much patience and love for their new baby brother.

Got a little girl time in with my best girl. Colbie’s first pedicure!

We had a follow up appointment back in Phoenix this past Wednesday with Jed’s cardiologist and he seemed very happy with how he’s progressing so far.  Since we’ve been home, he has gained almost another pound (8.8 lbs yesterday!) and his oxygen sats continue to improve.  His cardiologist hopes to get him off oxygen completely in the next two months and says he doesn’t see any need for further surgery at this point!! We couldn’t have asked for better news!

Thank you again to all our wonderful friends and family for all your love, support and prayers throughout this journey. A huge thank you to the Andersons for allowing us to “camp out” with them during our extended stay in Phoenix. Thank you to my amazing parents who have stepped in and helped us so much with the kids when we couldn’t be here.  And above all, thank you God for your work in all of this, for watching over our family and keeping our little piggy safe in your healing hands.