Highlights & Lowlights

- January 01, 2018

2017 was beautifully orchestrated with many highs and lows.

Josh:

Grew out his facial hair and he loved it.
Continued working at Colmek.
Continued in his church calling as the Assistant Financial Clerk.
Hiked to the peak of Mt Timpanogos.
Ran a Half Marathon
Josh is the glue to our crazy family.

Sarah:

Had our 3rd baby boy.
Celebrated 10 yrs since graduating from Viewmont.
Continued in my church calling as Primary President.
Organized a Fundraiser Yard Sale with two days notice. We raised just over $2k for our close friends.
Experienced my 1st pedicure.
Started my 3rd year teaching preschool in my home.
Fine-tuned my ability to plan meaningful, but cheap family activities.
I have struggled with a range of feelings and emotions this year. Motherhood is not easy.
My ongoing goal is to learn self-control.

Adriaan:

Turned 4 in July.
Started swim lessons and LOVES it!
Began reading.
He loves writing, especially his name.
Attends my preschool.
Adriaan has Cystic Fibrosis and so he continues doing an hour of vest therapy a day.
He has the biggest grin.

Samuel:

On the eve of his 2nd birthday, he tripped in our home and broke his femur. Because of his easy personality (and our inexperience) we did not realize it was broken. We finally took him into a clinic the next afternoon. After his x-ray, they refused to move Samuel until the paramedics came. They put in an IV, gave him a small dose of fentanyl and took him by ambulance to Primary Children's. We spent the day in the ER until they took him to put the cast on. He was under general anesthesia, but did not require surgery. It was quite a process to cast his lower half.
He spent 5 weeks in a 'spica cast' and did not complain. After 2 weeks he found awkward ways to move around and play.
He turned two years old the day he was hospitalized.
Samuel also attends my preschool and is easily motivated by positive rewards.
He recognizes most of the alphabet.
He loves to point out letters in his name.
Samuel is such a patient 2 year old.

Zayden:

Zayden Jacob was born in May. He was induced a week early. From the time they poked me with an IV to the time he popped out was about 4 1/2 hrs. He had the LOUDEST scream. We had a pleasant experience in the hospital and were released surprisingly fast. Although we did stay a few extra hours debating over a name (a common occurrence for us).
Around 5 weeks old, he constantly vomited for a few days straight. It was right after feedings, minutes later and even hours later. It got so bad that he would throw up saliva, since he had nothing left to vomit. We had no clue what to do.
In the midst of this vomiting issue, I received a call from the State Department of Health in regards to his newborn screening. I was informed that Zayden has Cystic Fibrosis. In the middle of the call, Zayden threw up on me again. We were both soaked and I was overwhelmed with the news about his CF diagnosis. I just stood there and bawled.
The following Monday we showed up to Primary Children's Cystic Fibrosis Clinic. I brought Adriaan along so that he could share this CF experience with his brother. I told the Dr. about Zayden's issue with throwing up. They sent us to get an ultrasound to check for Pyloric Stenosis. Sure enough, he had an enlarged pylorus (completely un-related to Cystic Fibrosis). We were sent to the ER. By then, it had been a long day for Adriaan and I. Josh came from work and stayed so we could go home. Zayden went into surgery that night. I came back later that night and stayed until he was able to keep food down the next day.
During the surgery, the surgeon happened to turn the camera and noticed an inguinal hernia. So we took him back to the same surgeon in July and he had a surgery to fix that up. Fortunately it was Outpatient and fairly quick.
Zayden has the cutest smile and is hardly ever sad. He loves to practice crawling and standing up against furniture.
We are still in the process of forming a good routine to do his treatments for his Cystic Fibrosis. It's so hard to do that in the midst of nursing throughout the day and keeping everyone alive at the same time.

CF Sweat Test

Family Stuff:

My brother and my sister both had their first babies this year. Each of them had a boy.
Josh and I celebrated 6 years of marriage.
Josh and I ran a 10k together in July.
We went to Idaho to visit our close friends and also traveled to the path of the total eclipse. It was an AMAZING experience. Our little family was alone in the mountains as the temps dropped and the sky turned to night.
My paternal grandmother passed away on Christmas Eve. She was such a sweet lady. I am so grateful for the time period that she and I lived under the same roof before I was married. I am grateful for the laughs we shared. I am grateful for the life she lived and the legacy she left.

2017 was exhausting. It was exciting. It was the best of times. It was the worst of times. I was stretched to the limits and grew so much. I am excited and nervous for what 2018 has to offer.