Tooth fairy!

Lukie is starting out the new year with a new smile!  His big boy tooth was coming in behind his baby tooth, which was not loose at all.  So we visited the dentist who pulled out both of his little baby teeth.  Lukie was so brave and didn't even flinch.  He hates brushing his teeth.  He gags and throws up whenever I brush his teeth.  But he is so good at the dentist, he laid perfectly still.  I hope the tooth fairy remembers to come on New Years Eve!

 Before....

 After....

 I have one very brave and proud boy:)

We wish you a Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!  We had a good Christmas this year.  My family was all out of state (my niece McKenna got married).  So we spent Christmas Eve and Christmas day with the Fullmer's.  I did make a tiny mistake this year.  When wrapping one of Isaac's presents I accidentally left the receipt attached to it from Costco.  And Costco is where most of the presents were bought:(  This was enough evidence that the only Believer left if Lukie.  I am heart broken!  Besides that and the kids up at 2:00am yelling and fighting and not going to sleep all night it was a good day.

 It was so hard to get a decent picture with this crazy bunch!

 Lukie's letter to Santa.  I love how it says "I'm not a vampire".

 Isaac almost didn't get anything this year!  But I guess Santa is forgiving and brought him NBA 2K14 for the PS3, a Trey Burke jersey, and other basketball stuff.

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 I Guess Lukie was on the good list because he got the bike he asked for along with playdough and board games.

Kaleb got a fancy gaming chair, sledding tube and clothes.

And Jayden got a GoPro3, iPod shuffle and clothes.

Gingerbread

The boys decorating tiny gingerbread houses and giant gingerbread men!

Meet Buddy!

Last year we started the Elf on the Shelf tradition when a scout elf comes to stay with us during December to keep an eye on the kids.  The tale tells that the elf flies to the North Pole every night to report to Santa.  The Elf may never be touched or he will lose his magic.We named our Elf Buddy, sometimes he is found playing tricks on the kids. Unfortunately our Elf did get touched:(   He had to leave our house and go to the Elf hospital in the North Pole for a couple days. Santa gave him some Elf medicine to get his magic back.    Lukie loves Buddy and already misses him!

Every year Buddy brings us a North Pole breakfast when he comes to stay.

Some other things we caught our Elf doing.....

In the cookie jar with Elf Kisses, playing connect 4 with a snowman, Writing on our mirror (naughty Buddy), being a part of the Nativity.

 We have a spiritual Elf:) reading the story of Jesus birth from the bible,  Superman flying with a cape from the light, writing on the eggs and turning the milk green, toilet papered the tree, and made a snow angel in powdered sugar.

 Lukie helping Buddy recover after he had been touched.

Milk and cookies waiting for Santa!

(Lukie made ear muffs as a gift to Buddy)

Enthusiasm for Life

I don't update every often about Luke when he is doing well.  So I thought I would do a post about him and what he is learning.  First of all Luke is the funniest, sweetest, toughest little boy I know.  He never complains and is always happy. Luke says the funniest things all of the time.  He is very in love with me, he always tells me "mommy you are sexy on the outside and beautiful on the inside".  He loves to cuddle with my flabby fat on my arms that he calls "squishies"'. He loves school especially PE, music and singing.  He struggles with his fine motor skills because they are associated with eating (which he doesn't do much of).  So he receives OT and PT therapy at school.   He is behind on the writing and reading.  It is wonderful that he has his own nurse with him that can give him extra help with the subjects he struggles with.  She does an amazing job with him, we are so thankful for her help and support.  He still doesn't eat very much at all.  Sometimes he will have a bite of cheese, and likes to lick the seasoning off of hot and spicy chips.  And he recieves small amounts of formula in his G-tube.  He is still 100% TPN dependent and small for his age, and throws up on a regular basis.
The other day his nurse was working with him on his reading.  Luke was getting frustrated and said "I just wasn't born to read!".  She asked him up he wanted to be when he grows up and he said a coach.  She said he would have read to be a coach, he answered "I won't be a very good coach then".  Then she talked to him about Mike has to read for his job.  Lukie said "my dad doesn't need to read, he just knows where to go".  His nurse Tracy said she would call his elf buddy and tell  him Lukie wasn't doing his work.  Lukie replied, "you can't call Buddy today he is sick".  He had an answer for everything, his nurse was trying to be serious and not laugh.

This is the first person Lukie has ever drawn.

Prince Lukie and his best friend Evie (Evie is really shy:))

 Lukie was Student of the Month.

They awarded him with Enthusiasm for Life! 

Skating with Santa

We were invited to the Make-A-Wish Christmas party Skating with Santa.  We had a great time skating at the Gallivan Center and watched the lighting ceremony.  Lukie loved seeing Santa and wanted to follow him everywhere. After we walked around temple square and saw all of the beautiful Christmas lights.  I love the spirit of Christmas.

 The 3 oldest boys loved skating.  They cant wait to go again.

 Lukie wasn't so sure about it.  We both held on the side the whole time (I am a horrible skater).

Lukie said "I just wasn't born for this!" I wasn't either:)

 We all wrote a letter to Santa.  Lukie asked for a Bike for Christmas.

 Temple Square looks amazing at Christmas time!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had a great Thanksgiving this year.  Here are some fun pictures we took of our family.

Another Lifeline

A couple weeks ago while chaning Lukie's broviac dressing I noticed that once was a scab on his insertion site looked more like the cuff that keeps his broviac (CVL) in place was beginning to show through his skin.  We had a GI appointment the next day.  They agreed it looked like the cuff and had someone from the surgery office to come look at it.  They said if the line worked okay they would leave it how it was, if it came out more or didn't give us blood return to call our surgeon.  On Monday after school I noticed Lukie was itching his dressing.  While I was cleaning up dinner he came up to me and said "mom something happened".  He lifted up his shirt and I saw his CVL hanging out, completely pulled out of his chest.:(  I'm felling is that he picked at the cuff at the insertion site and it fell out.  Lukie's broviac is his lifeline.  Mike and I were devastated. There are only six main veins that can be used for a CVL, every CVL is precious and we are very protected of. With out his CVL and TPN Luke would starve to death very quickly.  So I quickly packed our hospital bag and headed to the ER.
We stayed the night where Luke received IV fluid to keep him hydrated and had surgery on 11-12-13 for a new CVL.  Everything went well in surgery, he is now the proud owner of a new 4 french broviac in his right subclavian vein.  Luke is such a sweet heart, he is the bravest kid I know, he always has a smile on his face.  He never complained, he was very calm and mature even with all the hospital craziness.  Happy to be home again after our 24 hour stay!

 This is the first time Lukie has drawn a person. He is the orange one (see all of the tubes and accessories on his tummy) and the green one is a crab

 Always Happy!

 After surgery and very drugged