Christmas and more ...

Laying on his puppy pillow and enjoying cartoons

Smiley boy!

Look Mom, I can stand by myself!

He LOVES to play in the bath .. splish splash!

Spending time with Uncle Jon on Christmas morning

Daddy and Ev playing with his new toy Grandma and Grandpa Heiman gave him

Taking a break from playing to take a drink of juice

Evan in Grandpa's truck on Christmas morning

Riding his new car Grandma and Grandpa Smith got him

Christmas Eve - his bib says it all!!!!

Oh, how time flashes before you eyes! I feel like I just updated, and it has been over a month ago. Looking back, I didn't realize that I hadn't even posted about Christmas or anything since. Hold on tight ... here we go!

Our Christmas was a somewhat frustrating and emotional holiday for us! Frustrating because we were not able to go to either of my grandparents house, due to the weather, on Christmas Eve. This has been a tradition in my family, since I can remember. This was the first year that I was not able to go to either families house. I am a HUGE family person and love to spend the time with my family, since this is the one time of the year that everyone is able to make it (minus a cousin in California serving the Navy). I remember getting no sleep on Christmas Eve because I kept waking up looking at the snow, in disbelief. I wasn't sure if we were going to be able to make it to my parents on Christmas morning. Long story short, we did make it there for our tradition on Christmas morning - spending it with my parents, brother, and grandmother. Opening presents and a huge Christmas breakfast to top it off!!! But, we also got stuck in yard at the end of our street - with a helpful spirit pulling us out of the "ditch" and my dad picking us all up so we could spend Christmas with them.

It ended up being a wonderful Christmas, spent with our parents and some of Jason's family! We spent Christmas Eve opening some gifts at Grandma and Grandpa Smith's, including our Christmas PJ's (which Evan has on in his pictures). We were also able to spend Saturday with them and enjoy Christmas with Jason's side of the family. Evan was more involved than we thought he would be. He was up most of the morning, and conked out after it was early afternoon and he finished his Christmas breakfast. His grandparents spoiled him and nearly made our whole family room into a toy room. But they got some of our older toys sent to their house! :) It was a very special Christmas for us, and it will be a Christmas I will never forget. I look forward to spending many more together, as a family!

We went to our Genetics appointment last week. Evan was given the thumbs up! They couldn't get over how big he was and his silly personality. We have been okayed to stretch his sleeping time to 7 hours. His dose of Carnitine was raised, once again, but will no longer be based on his weight and no longer increase in amount. Thank goodness because the first week it upsets his stomach and makes him smell like a fish! This is the medicine that gave him bad tummy problems the first months of his life. And don't ask me why it makes him smell like fish, but they warned us of this. Anyway, we go back when he is 1 years old. He can then go 10 hours of sleeping!!!! We will then only have appointments every 6 months, instead of 3 months. Great news! We got an A+!

Evan has been sick the last 4 days. It has been pretty rough for mommy and daddy and absolutely miserable for the little guy! He would eat smaller amounts of formula and was taking in less liquids and table food. We were starting to get concerned, but were watching him closely. A little scare, but thank goodness he started feeling better and eating more. The Genetics Nurse Practitioner (that we have started to see - who is great) gave us signs to look for and even gave us her cell phone number to call if we needed anything or had any questions! Impressive in my book!

So, Ev has an ear infection and upper respiratory, topped off with a little teething action. And he has been a trooper! He has been a little bit whiny, but only when he is so stuffy and cannot breathe. I kept wishing that I could just teach him to cough and blow his nose. He was started on Amoxicillin and he is doing MUCH better! I am glad he is getting back to feeling better! There is nothing worse than doing all you can to help them feel better, but nothing seems to help. They look at you with those little sad eyes ... breaks my heart.

Hopefully I will be more on top of updating in the future! Life is much different with a little person in the house. The day seems to fly by and weeks gone in a flash. I never know the date and realized that January is nearly over. Positive note: We will be celebrating Evan's 10 month Birthday in 2 days!!!! :)