Rough Start to a New Year!

Well our new year started off a little rough this time. Scott got called off at 11:57 PM  to go and deliver a baby so I spent New Year's by myself, but the exciting part is that he got to help deliver the New Year's Baby! That was kind of cool. The kids and Scott were sick off and on all through Christmas and into the New Year, so that was a bumber. Finally everyone is healthy at our house! Goodness!

Jaxon probably had the roughest start. He had to have surgery mid-January. He has had a little hole in his neck the size of a dimple since he was born. We weren't really too worried about it at first but we started noticing it was leaking fluid. We got a couple of doctor's opinions and then went to an ENT to see what he thought. He said that we could wait it out and hope it doesn't get infected, or we could have surgery on it and remove what was called a Branchial Cleft Cyst. We decided to just go ahead with the surgery and not chance infection. He also had some accessory skin on his right ear when he was born and they decided to remove that while he was sedated.

Jaxon bright and early waiting to get some medicine!

Scott was able to come with me which was very comforting. He knows more about this medical stuff than I do, so it was nice to have him there to "translate" as well!

The "bed ride" to the OR! He is starting to look a little sleepy. It is always so cute when they get their medicine and start to get sleepy! He kept turning and looking to make sure Scott and I were still there. He would turn his head and smile and then look forward again! It was so cute!

We got his hospital gown on and his surgical hat and are just waiting in the OR waiting area. He was so drugged by now! Cute and sad all at once! 

 2 hours later they let us know that Jaxon was out of surgery and did great. We walked to his room and could hear him crying down the hall. That was a heart-breaker! He was starving since he had to go in fasting! This seemed to calm him down!

 Hanging out with Daddy!

About a half an hour after he got out of surgery, they let us go home! I was impressed how fast that part was! We were prepared to stay all day, but we were very excited to go home and let Jaxon recover there!

This is a picture of his ear right after. There were two different skin accessories that had cartilage in them. They are still a little bit there, but not as noticeable. The doctor said they will blend in with the fold of his ear as he grows up. (His ear looks disgusting because of the stuff they used to clean the area - I promise I clean his ears!)

This is a picture of the incision of his cyst. Now that it is a month later, it blends in with his folds quite nicely. The doctor did a fabulous job! I highly recommend him. 

His stitches were removed a week later. He is doing great now! The stitches and everything didn't seem to bug him too bad! He was such a champ and did such a great job! He was totally himself after all the medicine wore off! It's just nice to have it done with and not have to worry about infection and things getting worse! There were a lot of prayers in his behalf and I want to thank all of you!

From there things are getting better! Scott is busy with work, I am busy with three little boys, Austin is loving preschool, Koen is in the process of being potty-trained which he is not showing much interest (if anyone has any ideas - I am open to ANYTHING!), and Jaxon is thinking about crawling (now that he is 10 1/2 months old). We are all doing great and loving life. Hope your new years are going well!

I am so ready for WARM Weather!

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Christmas Update - Yeah we are a little late!

It's crazy how long it has been since Christmas already. Well, if you don't mind - I will give a little update. Christmas was fabulous as usual. We had a Christmas get-together with the Keslers a few days before Christmas and had a blast. 

While dinner was being prepared and what not, my older brother Cameron got all the kids pumped about Hot Wheels and the endless possibilities with the tracks. Unfortunately everyone in town was out of the tracks so we had to make do with the one pack we found. 

My mom has a few snow globes and Koen and his cousin Ripken sat and watched them for hours. It was hilarious!

We then had the traditional Nativity story and since there are too many kids and not enough parts, my dad decided to have them hold nativity pieces instead. It worked out great!

My mom and dad like to do something special for the grandkids every year and this year they made these temple blocks for the kids to display in their rooms. Great idea! Austin has his on display and has followed Grandma's counsel of "looking at it everyday!"

This year we decided to switch things up and let the grandkids pick names of one of the cousins to buy a present for. They LOVED it! Austin had Cooper and got him his favorite baseball team figurine.

Koen's face is hilarious! Quinnleigh had him and got him a sports potato head! PERFECT!

Lexie had Jaxon and also got him a sports potato head! He loves it!

Kaia had Austin and boy was he in heaven with more race track and cars. The timing was perfect as well seeing as we could only find one pack of track earlier that day!

Jaxon had Maycee and made her a necklace and some earrings. He worked so hard on them. :)

Christmas Eve and Christmas Morn were spent at the Ulrich household. We started off the evening with a lucious dinner and then proceeded to the Nativity. Jaxon got to be Baby Jesus - he was a rather large baby though. He really liked the gifts the wisemen brought though.

Scott's face is hilarious! Is that forced?

That night the boys got to open their Christmas jammies and they were thrilled - can you tell? Koen was sick over Christmas which was a huge bummer because he is so hilarious to watch open presents. He fell asleep early on Christmas Eve and then we had to wake him up for Christmas morn. He then fell asleep while we were opening presents. He was miserable. Poor guy!

This was Jaxon's first Christmas experience and he was pumped! (Ok he didn't really know what was going on, but oh well!)

Koen is slightly obsessed with the Mater Tall Tales and for his birthday was given some of the monster trucks. Austin got him the Mater monster truck to add to the collection. He loves it!

Scott's big item was a guitar. He asked for one last year, but I didn't think he was serious. When it showed up on his list again this year I found out he really was serious! He was so excited and hasn't gone a day without playing it. He even knows about 5 songs now. He is doing great and picking it up fast!

Do you think Austin likes cars? He got a whole trick track set and now we can connect all of his tracks together and make a huge track.

I finally got some Duke gear to root on the Duke Blue Devils in basketball this year! I love it! Go Duke!\

We had a great Christmas and are so grateful we were able to spend it with so much family! We are so blessed and so grateful for all that we have. Thanks so everyone who made this Christmas so special! Hope you all had a great one too! Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas from the Kesler Family!

Koen is 3!!!

       Wow how time flies! It's crazy to think that Koen is already 3. He has been such a joy to have in our family and brings so much laughter into our home.

He was born on November 30th weighing 7 lbs 10 oz.

                                         On his blessing day! I have no idea what he is doing!

1 year old! He loved the cake - can you tell?

Birthday number 2 - he was a little more conservative with his cake.

And number 3 - he didn't eat any cake at all! Crazy!!! He wanted so badly to have a Buzz Lightyear cake and this was all I could do. I'm not very good at making those fancy cakes. I can't even make a regular cake look good. (Don't look too close, the cakes stuck to the pan. Apparently I didn't spray enough Pam in them.) Oh well - it worked.

He was so excited when he saw the big Buzz cutout! Not only was he a guest at the party, but he became a nerf gun target, a friend, and a hiding place. Definitely a hit!!!

He was having a hard time blowing out one candle. It was pretty funny! I guess you had to be there :)

We were lucky enough to have some family join us including Brett and his kids, Kelsi, and Brady & Edee and their kids. Grandma and Grandpa Kesler couldn't come that night so they came earlier in the day. He was so excited to get Toy Story puzzles and Toy Story color wonder. Grandma and Grandpa Ulrich came the next day and brought him a big snow sled. He is so excited to try it out in the snow. Austin and Koen have loved trying it out in the living room already.

It is always so comical to watch Koen open presents. He gets so excited and animated. He does a little excited jump or dance after every present. It always makes you feel good no matter what you got him. During this present he was in the middle of yelling "BIG WOODY!!!" in his deep voice.

These are his cousins that were there to share this exciting day with him. Not pictured: Maycee Kesler.

Koen and his cousin Ripken have been obsessed with Cars since I can remember (and maybe that has a little bit to do with their moms [wink wink]). Lately it is the Mater's Tall Tales and they both sat and watched the show together probably 3 or 4 times in a row a couple of days ago. Aunt Misty and Uncle Brett gave Koen the Monster Truck Lightning and the Ice Cream truck from the show and Koen and Ripken had so much fun playing with them together. It was so cute! It's fun how these two have become quite the buddies!

The next day Koen had to pull out all of his Buzz Lightyears and line them up. He loves the fact that he has Buzz in all sizes.

Austin and Koen with all the Buzz and Woodys. 

Koen was so excited to get what he asked for . . . a big Buzz that talks and a big Woody that talks. (Right before his birthday he added Big Lightning McQueen that says "Kachow Kachow Kachow" ten times) I guess you have to draw a line somewhere. Maybe for Christmas!

Needless to say, Koen had a great day. He is so much fun and has such a fun personality. He has quite the imagination as well. I do have to say that he is the violent one out of the three. (Pretending of course) He loves to pretend he is beating people up, shooting the bad guys, and wrecking cars. Is that bad? :) Happy Birthday Koen! We love you!

So Much To Be Thankful For!

We had such a great Thanksgiving. It began with Scott making rounds at the hospital and then it was off to Blackfoot for Thanksgiving dinner with the Keslers. We had a lucious meal (as usual) and enjoyed all the company as well. All of us kids and our families were there except for Cameron and his family which unfortunately he had to work. We missed you guys! After a delicious meal, we did the usual look through the adds and the guys actually went and helped a lady shovel her driveway. After some yummy pie, we headed to Starlite Lanes for our annual family bowling game. We ended up having the whole bowling alley to ourselves which never happens. It was probably a good thing because there was a herd of us.

 Koen has never really bowled much but he loved it. Good thing the guy doesn't get mad everytime the buzzer goes off for crossing the line. He did a great job though!

He  was so excited after knocking down so many pins. It was cute to see his excitement and dissapointment after each bowl.

Austin has gotten really good over the years. Look at that form!

The celebration after getting a spare. And just a side note - Austin beat me! I am a little out of practice. Believe me - that won't ever happen again :)

These two were so cute to sit there and watch everyone else bowl when their turns were over. Cousin Ripken & Koen.

The CREW!

Afterwards we came back to mom and dad's and the boys watched an intense Dallas Cowboys football game. Lets just say they were very disappointed with the outcome.

The boys continued the night playing an improv song game. They each had to come up with a short phrase that went along with the person before them and sing it. That doesn't really make sense - oh well! It is a very random game, but super fun!

Thanksgiving came to a close with a bang. I ended up pulling an all nighter due to the Black Friday deals. I hit Walmart at midnight, then the three guys and I hit Target at 2 (line was too long - so we left) and then Pocatello stores at 5. Needless to say - we got some GOOD stuff. Scott, Jordan, Landon, and I at the mall enjoying some Mrs. Powells cinnamon rolls. It was a great boost to keep us going. It was a wonderful weekend and so much fun! I am so thankful for the family that I have and for the wonderful examples they are to me. I have learned so much from each and everyone of them. I am also so grateful for my own little family. For a wonderful and amazing husband that takes such good care of me and the boys and also for 3 wonderful boys that bring so much joy into our lives. Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!!!