Hiatt - Party of 4

It is a shame we don't live in a more beautiful area...



Best Friends...



Boys will be boys...

Zach took a face plant today:



Hannah just looks like she had a lot of fun outside and did a lot of spitting up:

I especially love the email she sent out to family and close friends.



FAMILY FEELS BLESSED: Back at work already, governor says she wasn't in labor in Texas.

By LISA DEMER
ldemer@adn.com

Published: April 22nd, 2008 01:11 AM
Last Modified: April 22nd, 2008 12:05 PM

Gov. Sarah Palin was back at work Monday in Anchorage, holding a meeting on the proposed natural gas pipeline three days after giving birth to her fifth child.
She and her husband, Todd, showed their new baby, Trig Paxson Van Palin, to a few reporters and photographers and answered questions about his condition and the sooner-than-expected delivery.

Trig has Down syndrome, a genetic abnormality that affects a child's intellectual and physical development, the governor confirmed.

"When we first heard, it was kind of confusing," Palin, 44, said. She called the revelation "very, very challenging" and said she initially felt sad.

But the family has worked through that. Palin said she and Todd feel blessed and chosen by God. With a big family including four older kids, grandparents, aunts and uncles, Palin said, they will have lots of support for what's ahead. In their eyes, she said, "he's absolutely perfect."

The oldest Palin kid, Track, is in the Army and texted his mother after learning the news with something to the effect of "This is just so cool -- I finally got my brother."

In a letter she e-mailed to relatives and close friends Friday after giving birth, Palin wrote, "Many people will express sympathy, but you don't want or need that, because Trig will be a joy. You will have to trust me on this." She wrote it in the voice of and signed it as "Trig's Creator, Your Heavenly Father."

"Children are the most precious and promising ingredient in this mixed-up world you live in down there on Earth. Trig is no different, except he has one extra chromosome," Palin wrote.

As for people who think a baby like Trig shouldn't even be born, look around, the governor wrote. Who is perfect or even normal?

Hannah loves eating fruit out of this little bag thing. She sucks it out and ends up a big happy sticky mess. This particular night, it was pears...



This is what happens when I have to take it away to refill the fruit...



Oh Ya... that's the stuff...



"Don't even think about taking this away from me again!"

I am not sure where Zach picked up this phrase. Neither Chris or I say it but all of a sudden today Zach was answering questions with this. Every day when we pick him up from daycare we ask him about his day. Some days it goes like this... (for the record, the true answer to all these questions, is Yes)

Me: Zach, did you go to school today?

Zach: No

Me: Did you ride the bus today?

Zach: No

Me: Did you see Miss Kay today?

Zach: No

Me: Did you take a nap at Cindy's today?

Zach: No

Me: Did you play with Max today?

Zach: No

.... You get the picture ....

Then today, this is what he was telling us....

I have been blessed to "meet" some fabulous people in the Trisomy 21 community. Without them, some days I don't know where I would turn. One person in particular I have always been fond of. Maybe it is because when I found the online communities, her daughter was very close to Zach's age and she is such an intriguing person.

If you ever want a great read, check out her blog about her beautiful daughter ...... the Lovely and Amazing Emma Jayne

Anyhow, the reason for this post is that I came across one of her posts that I just love. The "R" Word. Please read this post. I could have written this. Every word of it. If I was a brilliant witty writer of course.

Hannah spent her first night in the crib last night. She did great. I was a little afraid how she would sleep since this is the first night of her sleeping unswaddled. I'd say she looks pretty comfy...

We almost have a crawler. She is getting very frustrated that she hasn't figured it out yet. She doesn't always look this pleasant, in fact, she starts whining after a few minutes in this position:



Where has the time gone? She is getting so big!! Look at these teeth!!

We discovered last night that Hannah loves asparagus. It is great for little hands and they can suck the crap out of it!





It reminded me of one of my all time favorite pictures of Zach... eating asparagus at 11 months old

Me - Throat infection

Hannah - Ear infection

Antibiotics for both.

This has not been the best weekend. I am pretty convinced I have strep throat. I tried to get an appointment on Friday but of course they couldn't get me in. I thought the pain would have let up by now, but no such luck. If the pain hasn't gotten better tomorrow, I may have to go to the doctor. If I don't have strep, I am convinced I have been swallowing pins and broken glass all weekend. And that something is pushing into my eardrums from the inside.

To make matters worse, Zach's pink eye resurfaced. I thought I sanitized everything in the house, but either I missed something, or he re contracted it from someone else. Luckily it looks better today after Chris has been diligent about putting the drops in his eyes 3 times a day.

And, since Hannah can't be left out of the fun... she cut 2 teeth in the last 3 days. She has been miserable. Last night once we finally got to sleep, she woke up screaming and throwing her body around. She screamed so much that she made herself gag and throw up. And she was congested, but not snotty that I could suction out, so when she would try to use her pacifier or nurse, she couldn't breathe. Chris put the humidifier in the room with us which helped her a lot, but made me worse.

Friday she slept a lot at daycare and I noticed that night that she cut a tooth (a weird one ... order wise) It is a top tooth, but not a front one, the tooth just to the side of the front ones. And this morning I felt that she finally cut the other bottom front tooth last night or this morning sometime.

Luckily Chris is healthy and able to take care of us all. I hope the springtime sunshine helps wipe away all the germs !!!

Hannah had her 6 month appointment and shots yesterday. She weighs 21 lbs 4 oz and is 28 inches long. She is 97th percentile for both height and weight. She is getting so big. She loves to sit up and play with her toys and chew on anything and everything she can get her hands on. Crawling looks like it will happen in the very near future. She has started "talking" alot. She will say Mama, but I am not totally convinced she is saying it about me, more than she says it at me. She usually says it in a fit of rage when she wants something.

Zach's surgery has been rescheduled for May 13th. Think healthy thoughts for him please!! He is doing well. Just got over his first case of pink eye. Some behavior issues we are trying to address. Pushing, stealing other kids toys, ignoring... you know... normal kid stuff.

This past weekend we had Zach's best friend Max over to play a lot. His parents bought a beautiful house here in Atascadero and they had fun stuff to do over there. Pulling out flooring, base boards, etc. Here are some pictures of Zach and Max's weekend of fun...

Here is the boys reading to each other when they were supposed to be trying to take a nap:


chasing each other on bikes:


Zach trying to put on Max's shoes so they could go back outside:


just chillin:

I have waited a long time for this day. The day that I could play with my daughters hair!!! A friend of mine started up a little business called Little Fortune Cookie and she makes all of these cute clippies by hand. She made Itty Bitty Clippies just for Hannah and I just love them!!