Christmas 2012

This year was Cole's 2nd Christmas.  He got into opening the presents a little bit, but mostly just liked to climb on top of all of the boxes.  We had fun with Cole this year, but I already can't wait until the time he understands more about Santa and the magic of Christmas.  I have so many fun traditions planned out in my head.  We spent Christmas morning at home, just the three of us.  Then in the afternoon we went to my parents house to watch Cole open their presents and to eat lunch.  My mom is a great cook, and we were stuffed after we ate.  We all went up to the hospital to visit my sister and Kyle in the early evening.  We wanted to make sure they got to celebrate Christmas with the family too!  It was weird not having them at my mom and dad's, but we know Kate is where she needs to be to keep the babies safe!  Actually, we had a great time at the hospital.  They bent the rules a bit and allowed Cole to come in too!  We were probably loud, and I hope the person in the room next to my sister's wasn't too mad.  Cole did great being contained in the room too.  We did our stocking exchange and Cole opened MORE presents.  Even though our Christmas was not "normal", it was as good as it could have been.  Really to me, I just want to spend time with family.  It didn't matter to me where we were.

I'm already looking forward to Christmas next year.  There will be 3 little ones and Luke and Margo are moving home too!  It'll be awesome to have the WHOLE family together. 

Ritz and Cole wanted to switch stockings the entire time they were opening them. 

Tree in our nice finished basement this year :)

What is this stuff?

I think I'd rather climb on top

Ok, if you insist...I will open it

Just chillin on the box

Playing in the tent at Grandma and Grandpa's house

A new sled...no snow, so for now we sled in the house! 

Grandpa made the mistake of getting the iPad out in front of Cole.  

Aunt Kate & Uncle Kyle (and Grandma snuck in there too)

Twins Christmas gifts

More stuff for the twins :)

Apparently this is how you keep a 1 year old entertained in a hospital room.  Trust me, it's whatever works! 

Love Love Love My Family! 

Cole's 1st Birthday

We went all out for Cole's 1st Birthday bash.  The theme was Winter ONEderland.  We decorated with penguins, snowflakes, and candy canes.  Everything turned out perfect!  I wanted to share some pictures of the party.  One thing is for sure, Cole is a very loved (and spoiled) little dude!  

Trip to Peoria: Kidney's & Diapers

Yesterday Matt and I traveled to Peoria with Cole for another appointment at The Children's Hospital of IL to check his kidneys.  We were lucky last time we went and didn't have to go back for 6 months...man the last 6 months sure flew by!  I really was not looking forward to this appointment at all because Cole had to have a VCUG procedure done.  It's not a painful procedure, but it entails a catheter and a screaming baby.  We had to hold him down on the table so they could get x-rays.  All in all, it was about a 15 minute procedure, but it seemed like a lifetime.  I was so glad when it was over and I could hold my baby again.  They are so great with children at this hospital.  They let us wear lead gowns so we could stand by him while he was being x-rayed and they were so nice to Cole.  I am glad the people who were doing the test work with children often...we were in good hands!

Even though I didn't want to do this VCUG again, I am glad we did.  The x-rays showed that he does not have any reflux in his kidneys anymore.  He really did outgrow the reflux like his doctor thought he would.  We are so grateful!  He does have to go back in 6 months again, but this time just for an ultrasound.  If that looks good then we hope we only have to go back once a year at this point until he is potty trained.

After Cole's appointments, we went to the NICU to deliver the Teeny Tears diapers.  Everyone who donated towards the cause should feel so proud...we delivered 500 diapers to the NICU in Peoria.  That's 250 sets...or 250 families we will help.  It felt awesome to hand these over to the people they are meant for.  I would never wish for anyone to need these diapers, but the reality is that people do.  I am happy that we can try to help someone who is on the journey of losing a child.  I saved out 22 sets to take to Bromenn on January 9.  That's right folks, in total we made/donated 545 diapers!!!!!  Can you believe that?  That's beyond my wildest expectations when I started this project.  Thank you all again so much for your love, support, and donations to make this possible.  Love you all!

I have some pictures of all of the diapers...but my storage on my blog for photos is at it's max.  Once I figure out how to fix that, I'll post some pictures.

Thoughts...

I was thinking today about how Cole's birthday is right around the corner.  It's so crazy to think that it's been one year already since I first saw my beautiful baby's face.  I have grown to love him so much more than I ever thought I could.  His personality is showing through in new ways each day.  He is so fun to be around and his giggles just melt my heart.  He is a very strong willed child already, and I know I'll have my work cut out for me, but I'm so ready to experience all that the next several years bring.

It's bittersweet thinking that this could be the only 1st Birthday that I celebrate for a child of mine.  And because of that, we are going all out for Cole's party!  Some people may think Cole is a spoiled little guy, but I think he is just well loved :o)  I am trying to live every moment with Cole to the fullest.  It's funny to me that I don't want each stage to end, but at the same time I absolutely can't wait for the next stage.  I have so many fun ideas to make his childhood memorable.

We found out a few months ago that our health insurance is changing at work for 2013.  Our new health insurance won't have any coverage for infertility.  We have been so blessed to have coverage for 3 IVF's and several other infertility type expenses over the last few years.  However, it doesn't make it any easier to digest that we won't have any more help paying for these expensive procedures in the future if we want another child.

My thoughts go back and forth about having another baby.  I would love for Cole to have a sibling, because some of my greatest memories involve my siblings, and to this day my sister is my best friend.  But getting pregnant is so complicated...and then carrying a baby to full term is so nerve wracking.  I just don't know if I want to go through all of that again.  Plus if we only have Cole we know for sure we can provide anything he ever needs.  It really stinks to have to think about these sorts of things.  If we do IVF again, it would cost close to $30,000 out of pocket and there is no guarantee that it would work.

It's probably good I don't have to decide about any of this today...  But sooner than later we will have to face some tough decisions.  I don't know what my family will look like in the future, but I do know we have one incredible little boy that we are going to continue to love.  I'm so thankful for all the moments this year held for us with Cole.

I can't wait to share some posts about his birthday party and his birthday in the next few weeks.  Then right after that we have Christmas to celebrate, and this year it'll be so fun to watch Cole and to start new family traditions.