Loving Winter

We've been enjoying more snow days around here.  Just when all our Christmas Eve snow had finally melted off, we got 5 new inches on Thursday and Friday.  We also got nearly an inch of ice on Thursday, which always complicates things, but it sure does make everything gorgeous.  Ryan was able to stay home Thursday and Friday, so we've had a lot of great family time all together.

Our house.  Eli's crawling up the driveway.

This is the usual result of an ice storm.  The front of our house faces north and becomes completely encased in a sheet of ice.  This includes the garage door, which will not open until you break up and knock off the sheet of ice, which is easier said than done, especially without damaging the garage door.  Thursday's ice was about 3/4 in. thick.  Some places had over an inch.

I LOVE the way the trees look when they're coated in ice (as long as the ice doesn't break off all the branches, which then hit and take down all the powerlines, causing weeks of power outages).  When you drive down a tree lined street, the trees all look like they're made of crystal.  It's one of the most gorgeous things I've ever seen.  We've been very fortunate to keep our power throughout this storm.  I just saw that 108,000 customers are currently without power in the state.  This storm was on Thursday, so they've been without heat for a while now.

Last time it snowed, we didn't have a snowsuit for Eli, and he had zero interest in playing in the snow.  Aunt Kristin recently loaned us this suit, and it has been used the last couple days.  The hat was also a hand-me-down from a girl in my Bible study.  I thought it was pretty silly when I first saw it, but boy did it keep this little boy's head warm.

From the moment we set Eli down, he was off.  Surprisingly, this boy loved the snow.  He crawled all over the yard and driveway and had a great time exploring.

Clayton could not wait to get out and make snow angels.  He wanted to make a snowman, but we had to work on the garage situation that day, so Frosty is on hold.  Maybe we can get out there tomorrow.

Sweet snow baby.

Too busy to look at Mama.

Starting to get a little chilly.

Playing with Daddy.

Looking so big.

It's Been a While

It's been a while since I updated our blog.  We've had holidays, travels, and some company, and I just haven't gotten around to blogging lately.

On the heart front, in case you haven't heard, it's looking more and more like Clayton will not have his Fontan for at least another year, if not two.  We'll have to see.  His size is the issue, and the fact that he is doing so well from a cardiac stand point, leads both Stanford and our cardiologist to see no reason to rush into a Fontan.  Personally, I would love to see Clayton with higher oxygen sats, but his body is tolerating these sats so far, and the cardiologist seems okay with him staying like this for a while longer.  So that's the plan for now.  Things can always change, especially if his tricuspid valve worsens or heart function decreases, but for now we wait.

On the Eli front, it's been a rough fall and winter for our boy.  He's currently on his fifth (at least) double ear infection of the season.  ENT has been mentioned, but I think we're going to wait it out a little longer.  On Tuesday he woke up with a fever, and I was suspicious.  By 10 am the piercing screaming and ear tugging made it obvious.  Yesterday and today he's been back to his old happy self, attempting to mimic a lot of what Clayton does, and attempting to wrestle with me at every moment.  Wrestling must be an inborn trait in little boys.  I don't understand it at all, nor do I really care to participate.

2010 has arrived.  It's hard to believe.  I'll update again with some new pictures soon.

Brrr!